Candice Etson

A molecular biophysicist by training, Professor Candice Etson’s research lies at the intersection of physics and biology. She uses single-molecule techniques to investigate the physical principles underlying biomolecular interactions and biochemical reactions. These techniques provide access to detailed information about the behavior and properties of biological molecules that would normally be obscured by ensemble averaging in traditional biochemical assays that rely on observations of a large population of molecules. Careful analysis of single-molecule observations can uncover the presence of hidden intermediate states, which correspond to local maxima in the energy landscape of a biomolecular process, such as protein folding or enzyme catalysis. The presence of multiple intermediate states can be indicative of cooperativity. Single-molecule approaches can also help differentiate between static disorder (consistent differences between individual molecules) and dynamic disorder (variation in the properties of individual molecules over time). Both types of disorder play important roles in understanding how biomolecular processes take place.

Prof. Etson uses Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy, single-molecule Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (smFRET), single particle tracking, and fluorescence colocalization to observe and characterize interactions between proteins and DNA, the mechanisms by which proteins modify DNA, the assembly of macromolecular complexes, and the dynamics of DNA structures. She is currently working with students to build an optical trapping instrument, which will allow her to study how molecular-scale forces drive complex biological processes.

Lin, S. H., Zhao, D., Deng, V., Birdsall, V. K., Ho, S., Buzovetsky, O., Etson, C. M., & Mukerji, I. (2023). Integration Host Factor Binds DNA Holliday Junctions. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 24(1), 580. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24010580.

Etson, C. M., Todorov, P., Shatery Nejad, N., Shrestha, N., Walt, D. R. (2021). Single-Molecule Dwell-Time Analysis of Restriction Endonuclease-Mediated DNA Cleavage. J. Vis. Exp. (168), e62112, doi:10.3791/62112.

Graham, T.G., Wang, X., Song, D., Etson, C. M., van Oijen, A. M., Rudner, D. Z., & Loparo, J. J., (2014). ParB spreading requires bridging. Genes Dev, 28(11), 1228-1238. doi:10.1101/gad.242206.114.

Etson, C.M., Hamdan, S.M., Richardson, C.C. & van Oijen, A. M. (2010). Thioredoxin suppresses microscopic hopping of T7 DNA polymerase on duplex DNA, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 107 (5) 1900-1905, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0912664107 (2010).