Everything in Biology is Mechanical
Welcome to the Fernandez Lab: Biophysics of single proteins under force
The science of single molecules. Discovering the biophysics of protein folding under a mechanical force.
Our most recent work
The power of titin folding
We have discovered that disulfide bonds act as power switches for protein folding. Disulfide bonded titin domains can deliver thousands of zW of mechanical power. See our recent paper on this topic just published in Cell Reports
An electromagnetic head tweezers
We have built a novel magnetic tweezers design that allows us to apply an arbitrary force signal to single proteins with a bandwidth of~20 kHz. Our recordings are obtained using a custom C++/Qt program that clocks up to 1700 fps. The results that we obtain are spectacular.
Design for a mechanical antibiotic
We have designed small peptides that block the formation of isopeptide bonds in the pili of Gram positive pathogens. We demonstrate that blocking isopeptide bonds in pili, weakens them mechanically. Our aim is to perfect these peptides so that they can be used as antibiotics where intervened pili become easy prey for proteases, losing their grip on the host.
Opinion: Stop Ignoring This Filament Crucial to Muscle Function
What we now know about titin folding should be sufficient to trigger a paradigm shift in our understanding of muscle contraction.