scholarly journals Biological physics by high-speed atomic force microscopy

2020 ◽  
Vol 378 (2186) ◽  
pp. 20190604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ignacio Casuso ◽  
Lorena Redondo-Morata ◽  
Felix Rico
Keyword(s):  
Atomic Force Microscopy ◽  
Molecular Motors ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Structural Information ◽  
Biological Systems ◽  
Force Microscopy ◽  
Atomic Force ◽  
Biological Physics ◽  
And Function ◽  
Physical Phenomena

While many fields have contributed to biological physics, nanotechnology offers a new scale of observation. High-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM) provides nanometre structural information and dynamics with subsecond resolution of biological systems. Moreover, HS-AFM allows us to measure piconewton forces within microseconds giving access to unexplored, fast biophysical processes. Thus, HS-AFM provides a tool to nourish biological physics through the observation of emergent physical phenomena in biological systems. In this review, we present an overview of the contribution of HS-AFM, both in imaging and force spectroscopy modes, to the field of biological physics. We focus on examples in which HS-AFM observations on membrane remodelling, molecular motors or the unfolding of proteins have stimulated the development of novel theories or the emergence of new concepts. We finally provide expected applications and developments of HS-AFM that we believe will continue contributing to our understanding of nature, by serving to the dialogue between biology and physics. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Dynamic in situ microscopy relating structure and function’.

Imaging Cellular and Viral Materials with Small Cantilevers Developed for High Speed Atomic Force Microscopy

2007 ◽  
Vol 1025 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georg Fantner ◽  
Tzvetan Ivanov ◽  
Katerina Ivanova ◽  
David Gray ◽  
Ivo W Rangelow ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atomic Force Microscopy ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Single Molecule ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Biological Systems ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Biologically Relevant ◽  
Force Microscopy ◽  
Atomic Force ◽  
Resonance Frequencies

AbstractHigh speed atomic force microscopy (AFM) holds the promise of investigating dynamic systems in real time with single molecule resolution. With the big push towards understanding more complex systems such as cell mechanics or cell-cell and cell-virus interactions, a tool is required that can extract information about these processes in real time in a physiological environment. Atomic force microscopy has been successfully used for investigations of many biological systems and materials in real life conditions, but taking AFM images takes too long to follow many biologically relevant processes. Therefore, attempts have been made to develop high speed AFM by reengineering all the components of an AFM system and much progress has been made. To be useful for investigations of biological systems however, it is often essential to keep imaging forces low in order to get good image quality and not to damage the sample. In this paper we will discuss new small AFM cantilevers we've developed to combine high resonance frequencies for faster imaging with low spring constants for gentle imaging.

scholarly journals Histone variant H2A.B-H2B dimers are spontaneously exchanged with canonical H2A-H2B in the nucleosome

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rina Hirano ◽  
Yasuhiro Arimura ◽  
Tomoya Kujirai ◽  
Mikihiro Shibata ◽  
Aya Okuda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atomic Force Microscopy ◽  
Dna Repair ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Histone Chaperones ◽  
Histone H2a ◽  
Force Microscopy ◽  
Atomic Force ◽  
Open Conformation ◽  
Replication Sites ◽  
Histone Exchange

AbstractH2A.B is an evolutionarily distant histone H2A variant that accumulates on DNA repair sites, DNA replication sites, and actively transcribing regions in genomes. In cells, H2A.B exchanges rapidly in chromatin, but the mechanism has remained enigmatic. In the present study, we found that the H2A.B-H2B dimer incorporated within the nucleosome exchanges with the canonical H2A-H2B dimer without assistance from additional factors, such as histone chaperones and nucleosome remodelers. High-speed atomic force microscopy revealed that the H2A.B nucleosome, but not the canonical H2A nucleosome, transiently forms an intermediate “open conformation”, in which two H2A.B-H2B dimers may be detached from the H3-H4 tetramer and bind to the DNA regions near the entry/exit sites. Mutational analyses revealed that the H2A.B C-terminal region is responsible for the adoption of the open conformation and the H2A.B-H2B exchange in the nucleosome. These findings provide mechanistic insights into the histone exchange of the H2A.B nucleosome.

High-Speed Atomic Force Microscopy for Studying the Dynamic Behavior of Protein Molecules at Work

2006 ◽  
Vol 45 (3B) ◽  
pp. 1897-1903 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshio Ando ◽  
Takayuki Uchihashi ◽  
Noriyuki Kodera ◽  
Atsushi Miyagi ◽  
Ryo Nakakita ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atomic Force Microscopy ◽  
Dynamic Behavior ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Force Microscopy ◽  
Atomic Force ◽  
Protein Molecules
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