Using optical tweezers to measure the adhesive strength of single receptor-ligand bonds

First, an animation illustrates how a combination of optical tweezers and micropipette manipulation is used to set up and conduct measurements of minuscule adhesion forces. The animation is followed by three example experiments. Each example shows four test cycles in real time. No adhesion occurs in the first two test cycles of each example. The last two cycles show adhesion events with measurable unbinding forces in the range of piconewtons.