From single molecules to tissues - a new AFM toolkit for nanoscopic investigation in life science

Abstract

The ability of atomic force microscopy (AFM) to obtain three-dimensional topography images of biological molecules and complexes with nanometer resolution and under near-physiological conditions remains unmatched by other imaging techniques. Bruker BioAFM has developed a new NanoWizard® 4 XP and NanoWizard® ULTRA Speed 2 AFMs, which not only enable the high-speed study of the time-resolved dynamics associated with molecular and cellular processes, it’s latest scanner technologies also allow full integration of AFM into advanced commercially available light microscopy techniques. This poster will focus on how the advances in Bruker’s latest BioAFM can be applied to study a wide-range of biological samples: from individual biomolecules to mammalian cells and tissues in-situ. It will be presented how we are able to resolve the nanoscale structure of individual biomolecules, at high-speed scan rates (600 Hz), follow the dynamic reorganization of the membrane-associated cytoskeleton of living cells at high temporal and spatial resolution. It will be highlighted, how the topography of cells across the entire area of the microscope stage can be automatically mapped. Special part will be dedicated to the suite of BioAFM modes, probes and accessories for studying nanomechanical properties of cells and tissues, including direct correlation with super-resolution microscopy techniques (STED).