Challenges in Inferring the Directionality of Active Molecular Processes from Single-Molecule Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer Trajectories

J Phys Chem Lett. 2023 Jan 12;14(1):49-56. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c03244. Epub 2022 Dec 25.

Abstract

We discuss some of the practical challenges that one faces in using stochastic thermodynamics to infer directionality of molecular machines from experimental single-molecule trajectories. Because of the limited spatiotemporal resolution of single-molecule experiments and because both forward and backward transitions between the same pairs of states cannot always be detected, differentiating between the forward and backward directions of, e.g., an ATP-consuming molecular machine that operates periodically, turns out to be a nontrivial task. Using a simple extension of a Markov-state model that is commonly employed to analyze single-molecule transition-path measurements, we illustrate how irreversibility can be hidden from such measurements but in some cases can be uncovered when non-Markov effects in low-dimensional single-molecule trajectories are considered.

Publication types

  • Review