Imaging saponin-induced structural changes in neural processes with atomic force microscopy

2002 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 241-246
Author(s):  
T. Nakano
RSC Advances ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (20) ◽  
pp. 11971-11981
Author(s):  
Alexel J. Burgara-Estrella ◽  
Mónica A. Acosta-Elías ◽  
Osiris Álvarez-Bajo ◽  
Erika Silva-Campa ◽  
Aracely Angulo-Molina ◽  
...  

Tobacco smoke contains several compounds with oxidant and pro-oxidant properties with the capability of producing structural changes in biomolecules, as well as cell damage.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blaire A. Sorenson ◽  
Daniel J. Westcott ◽  
Alexandra C. Sakols ◽  
J. Santoro Thomas ◽  
Perry Anderson ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTBacteriophytochromes (BphPs) are red-light photoreceptors found in photosynthetic and nonphotosynthetic bacteria that have been recently engineered as infrared fluorescent tissue markers. Light-induced, global structural changes are proposed to originate within their covalently bound biliverdin chromophore and propagate through the protein. Classical BphPs undergo reversible photoconversion between spectrally distinct light absorbing states, red (Pr) and far-red (Pfr), respectively. RpBph3 (P3), from Rhodopseudomonas palustris, photoconverts between a Pr and a unique near-red (Pnr) light-absorbing state. Due to size and photosensitivity of BphPs, structures of the intact proteins have not been resolved by nuclear magnetic resonance and/or X-ray crystallography. Therefore, structural details about the light and dark-adapted structures of the intact BphPs are not well understood at the molecular level. We have utilized fluid cell atomic force microscopy (AFM) to investigate the domain structure of intact P3 in its light-adapted state (Pnr). By varying the concentration of the protein, deposition time, and the ionic strength of the buffer, the aggregation of P3 on a mica surface can be controlled and single dimers may be observed in a biologically relevant media. Domain resolution has been achieved for several orientations of the dimer on the surface. The structural dimensions of the dimer have been compared to a modeled BphP in its intact form generated using PyMOL software. AFM experiments are currently underway to analyze the dark-adapted state (Pr) of P3 in order to observe the anticipated structural changes. Ultimately, the goal is to use AFM and other surface analytical methods such as scanning tunneling microscopy and electron microscopy to gain new insight into the unique photochemistry of P3.


2008 ◽  
Vol 22 (30) ◽  
pp. 3007-3013 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. M. BHARDWAJ ◽  
D. C. JAIN ◽  
RAVI KUMAR ◽  
R. P. GUPTA ◽  
K. B. GARG

XANES measurements at the Fe - K edge on natural South African sapphire single crystal (corundum) and an irradiated sample with fluence 1 × 1012 Ni 6+ ions/cm 2 are reported. Some decrease in intensity of pre-edge features (1s → 3d) and increase in intensity of 1s → 4p transition in Fe is observed with Ni fluence. Structural changes and modification on surface of irradiated sapphire with Ni 6+ ion have been observed by the atomic force microscopy technique and discussed in the term of defects.


Open Biology ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 140046 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Rother ◽  
Helen Nöding ◽  
Ingo Mey ◽  
Andreas Janshoff

Mechanical phenotyping of cells by atomic force microscopy (AFM) was proposed as a novel tool in cancer cell research as cancer cells undergo massive structural changes, comprising remodelling of the cytoskeleton and changes of their adhesive properties. In this work, we focused on the mechanical properties of human breast cell lines with different metastatic potential by AFM-based microrheology experiments. Using this technique, we are not only able to quantify the mechanical properties of living cells in the context of malignancy, but we also obtain a descriptor, namely the loss tangent, which provides model-independent information about the metastatic potential of the cell line. Including also other cell lines from different organs shows that the loss tangent ( G″ / G′ ) increases generally with the metastatic potential from MCF-10A representing benign cells to highly malignant MDA-MB-231 cells.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harris Mousoulis ◽  
Xin Xu ◽  
Robert Wilson ◽  
Garrett Chado ◽  
Joseph Wahlquist ◽  
...  

Recent advances in atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging and force spectroscopy have demonstrated improvements in rapid acquisition of quantitative data for applications in materials science, surface characterization, and biology. However, conventional AFM technology is limited in detection sensitivity and the ability to excite at off-resonance frequencies restricting broad utility of the technology. Here we demonstrate new AFM cantilevers fabricated with a planar microcoil at the tip region, which can be used to generate or sense highly-localized magnetic fields. Torsion/bending actuation of the cantilevers is accomplished with simple experimental configurations, enabling quantitative and simultaneous mapping of both stiffness and friction at the sample surface with more than one order of magnitude improvement in compositional contrast. Our method is compatible with commercial AFM systems, allowing us to clearly resolve small stiffness and friction variations in copolymer and biological samples that were difficult to detect by conventional AFM methods. In combination with fluorescence microscopy, we also generated localized fields to selectively stimulate and monitor structural changes in viable cells with nm-scale detail. Hybrid AFM cantilevers may be useful to characterize a broad range of complex material surfaces, in addition to combined physical and chemical analyses of single cells and biological microenvironments.


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