It was this junction and its signature that drove further experiments. When the current was passed between two gold STM electrodes, an orthophosphate group was found to bridge the nanogap between the electrodes by forming a stable junction due to the interaction of its negatively charged oxygen atoms with the gold. They prepared a phosphate solution (PO43-) and subjected it to a scanning tunneling microscope (STM)-assisted break-junction (BJ) technique. To start with, the team studied the electronic properties of phosphorylated peptides using their inorganic analog, orthophosphoric acid (H3PO4). In the recent breakthrough, a team of scientists at the Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo, Japan) reported the single-molecule detection of phosphorylation in peptides - short amino acid chains - and the formation of an orthophosphate junction with the help of electronic signatures. Now, a team of researchers has found an “electrifying” way to overcome these limitations, opening up new avenues for the use of single-molecule detection of PTMs in clinical diagnosis and pharmaceutical applications. Given the lack of sensitivity of current techniques, obtaining single-molecule PTM measurements is challenging. However, assays aiming to do so have to be highly selective and specific to that protein. The study of PTMs can help us understand cell signaling and the origin of several diseases. PTMs are enzymatic changes observed after protein synthesis, wherein functional groups are added to the amino acids in the protein, enabling it to perform a specific function.

Scientists have tried ways to use single-molecule detection assays to study proteins and their post-translational modifications (PTMs). A new analytical method - single-molecule detection - has gained momentum due to its success in observing specific, biologically relevant molecules and the processes associated with them.

Recently, however, there has been a new player in this field. Studying these processes can help us learn more about how cells function, a field that has continued to intrigue researchers. Each day, millions of biological processes occur in our body at a cellular level.

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