2006 年 27 巻 7 号 p. 420-425
We developed a micron-sized reaction chamber array of a few femtoliters that enables us to detect biological reactions at a single molecule level. By encapsulating a single molecules of β-galactosidase in chambers, a fluoregenic enzyme assay at a single enzyme was successively performed. The chamber array was also utilized to determine the mechanochemical coupling efficiency of F1-ATPase, a rotary motor protein. These experiments demonstrate the feasibility of this small reaction chamber array for highly sensitive detection of biological reactions.