High-speed Atomic Force Microscopy for Capturing Dynamic Behavior of Biological Molecules

Abstract

The function of proteins is engendered through their dynamic structural changes and dynamic interactions with other molecules. Although their direct real-space and real-time visualization is a straightforward approach to understanding the dynamic molecular processes, the lack of techniques has precluded it. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a versatile technique to image proteins in liquids at sub-molecular resolution, but its poor temporal resolution has meant an availability of only static or slow time-lapse images of proteins. Recently, this situation is, however, quickly changing. Over the past 15 years, studies toward increasing the scan speed of AFM and making high-speed imaging compatible with low-invasive imaging have been carried out at my lab. As a result, high-speed imaging, which is 1000 times faster than before, is achieved. This report presents exemplification of dynamic imaging of functioning biological samples.