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Ruobo Zhou

Bio: Ruobo Zhou is an academic researcher from Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The author has contributed to research in topics: DNA replication & Spectrin. The author has an hindex of 22, co-authored 31 publications receiving 3639 citations. Previous affiliations of Ruobo Zhou include Harvard University & University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
08 Jul 2010-Nature
TL;DR: Developing a calibrated biosensor that measures forces across specific proteins in cells with piconewton (pN) sensitivity reveals that FA stabilization under force requires both vinculin recruitment and force transmission, and that, surprisingly, these processes can be controlled independently.
Abstract: Mechanical forces are central to developmental, physiological and pathological processes. However, limited understanding of force transmission within sub-cellular structures is a major obstacle to unravelling molecular mechanisms. Here we describe the development of a calibrated biosensor that measures forces across specific proteins in cells with piconewton (pN) sensitivity, as demonstrated by single molecule fluorescence force spectroscopy. The method is applied to vinculin, a protein that connects integrins to actin filaments and whose recruitment to focal adhesions (FAs) is force-dependent. We show that tension across vinculin in stable FAs is approximately 2.5 pN and that vinculin recruitment to FAs and force transmission across vinculin are regulated separately. Highest tension across vinculin is associated with adhesion assembly and enlargement. Conversely, vinculin is under low force in disassembling or sliding FAs at the trailing edge of migrating cells. Furthermore, vinculin is required for stabilizing adhesions under force. Together, these data reveal that FA stabilization under force requires both vinculin recruitment and force transmission, and that, surprisingly, these processes can be controlled independently.

1,320 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
31 Aug 2018-Science
TL;DR: An overview of super-resolution methods, their state-of-the-art capabilities, and their constantly expanding applications to biology are provided, with a focus on the latter.
Abstract: Super-resolution microscopy has overcome a long-held resolution barrier—the diffraction limit—in light microscopy and enabled visualization of previously invisible molecular details in biological systems. Since their conception, super-resolution imaging methods have continually evolved and can now be used to image cellular structures in three dimensions, multiple colors, and living systems with nanometer-scale resolution. These methods have been applied to answer questions involving the organization, interaction, stoichiometry, and dynamics of individual molecular building blocks and their integration into functional machineries in cells and tissues. In this Review, we provide an overview of super-resolution methods, their state-of-the-art capabilities, and their constantly expanding applications to biology, with a focus on the latter. We will also describe the current technical challenges and future advances anticipated in super-resolution imaging.

464 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
05 May 2016-Cell
TL;DR: Based on multivalent fluorescence amplification of the nascent polypeptide signal, a method to image translation on individual mRNA molecules in real time in live cells, allowing direct visualization of translation events at the translation sites.

292 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
12 Mar 2015-Cell
TL;DR: The discovery of DNA flexibility as a critical factor for nucleosome dynamics and mechanical stability suggests a novel mechanism of gene regulation by DNA sequence and modifications.

249 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
12 Oct 2007-Science
TL;DR: In this article, a hybrid scheme combining force and fluorescence was developed to examine the effect of subpiconewton forces on the nanometer scale motion of the Holliday junction at 100-hertz bandwidth.
Abstract: Despite the recent advances in single-molecule manipulation techniques, purely mechanical approaches cannot detect subtle conformational changes in the biologically important regime of weak forces. We developed a hybrid scheme combining force and fluorescence that allowed us to examine the effect of subpiconewton forces on the nanometer scale motion of the Holliday junction (HJ) at 100-hertz bandwidth. The HJ is an exquisitely sensitive force sensor whose force response is amplified with an increase in its arm lengths, demonstrating a lever-arm effect at the nanometer-length scale. Mechanical interrogation of the HJ in three different directions helped elucidate the structures of the transient species populated during its conformational changes. This method of mapping two-dimensional reaction landscapes at low forces is readily applicable to other nucleic acid systems and their interactions with proteins and enzymes.

245 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
06 Jun 1986-JAMA
TL;DR: The editors have done a masterful job of weaving together the biologic, the behavioral, and the clinical sciences into a single tapestry in which everyone from the molecular biologist to the practicing psychiatrist can find and appreciate his or her own research.
Abstract: I have developed "tennis elbow" from lugging this book around the past four weeks, but it is worth the pain, the effort, and the aspirin. It is also worth the (relatively speaking) bargain price. Including appendixes, this book contains 894 pages of text. The entire panorama of the neural sciences is surveyed and examined, and it is comprehensive in its scope, from genomes to social behaviors. The editors explicitly state that the book is designed as "an introductory text for students of biology, behavior, and medicine," but it is hard to imagine any audience, interested in any fragment of neuroscience at any level of sophistication, that would not enjoy this book. The editors have done a masterful job of weaving together the biologic, the behavioral, and the clinical sciences into a single tapestry in which everyone from the molecular biologist to the practicing psychiatrist can find and appreciate his or

7,563 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: These techniques are described and illustrated with examples highlighting current capabilities and limitations of single-molecule force spectroscopy.
Abstract: Single-molecule force spectroscopy has emerged as a powerful tool to investigate the forces and motions associated with biological molecules and enzymatic activity. The most common force spectroscopy techniques are optical tweezers, magnetic tweezers and atomic force microscopy. Here we describe these techniques and illustrate them with examples highlighting current capabilities and limitations.

2,155 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A practical guide to using smFRET, focusing on the study of immobilized molecules that allow measurements of single-molecule reaction trajectories from 1 ms to many minutes, is provided.
Abstract: Single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (smFRET) is one of the most general and adaptable single-molecule techniques. Despite the explosive growth in the application of smFRET to answer biological questions in the last decade, the technique has been practiced mostly by biophysicists. We provide a practical guide to using smFRET, focusing on the study of immobilized molecules that allow measurements of single-molecule reaction trajectories from 1 ms to many minutes. We discuss issues a biologist must consider to conduct successful smFRET experiments, including experimental design, sample preparation, single-molecule detection and data analysis. We also describe how a smFRET-capable instrument can be built at a reasonable cost with off-the-shelf components and operated reliably using well-established protocols and freely available software.

1,929 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
23 Nov 2011-Cell
TL;DR: The cell-matrix and cell-cell adhesion, protease, and cytokine systems that underlie tissue invasion by cancer cells are described and explained to explain how the reciprocal reprogramming of both the tumor cells and the surrounding tissue structures not only guides invasion, but also generates diverse modes of dissemination.

1,693 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Progress towards understanding the molecular, cellular and tissue-level effects that promote mechanical homeostasis has helped to identify key questions for future research.
Abstract: Soft connective tissues at steady state are dynamic; resident cells continually read environmental cues and respond to them to promote homeostasis, including maintenance of the mechanical properties of the extracellular matrix (ECM) that are fundamental to cellular and tissue health. The mechanosensing process involves assessment of the mechanics of the ECM by the cells through integrins and the actomyosin cytoskeleton, and is followed by a mechanoregulation process, which includes the deposition, rearrangement or removal of the ECM to maintain overall form and function. Progress towards understanding the molecular, cellular and tissue-level effects that promote mechanical homeostasis has helped to identify key questions for future research.

1,449 citations