The Origin of Enhanced Enzyme Motility Probed with Optical Tweezers

Ingenious prior observations show that enzymes in solution display enhanced diffusivity when they catalyze chemical reactions but too little is known about the mechanism. A serious impediment to understanding is that the forces generated during enzyme catalysis are not known. In this talk, we will discuss our effort to measure these forces by using optical tweezers. The displacement probability distribution is enhanced as if the temperature were increased, but the reasons are different.