Atomic Force Microscopy of Actin
ZHANG
Jun1,2, WANG Yuan-Liang1*,
GU Li1, PAN Jun1
( 1 Key Lab for Biomechanics
& Tissue Engineering under the State Ministry of Education, Chongqing University,
Chongqing 400044, China;
2 Biology Department, Chongqing University of Medicine Sciences,
Congqing 400016, China )
Abstract Atomic
force microscope (AFM) is a powerful and novel tool to investigate the surface
and submembranous structures of living cells under physiological conditions at
high resolution, and has force measure at nano-Newton level. AFM can image and
manipulate samples (single macromolecule, cells, and so on) at very high,
sometimes atomic resolution by scanning a fine tip over the surface of interest
and detecting physical interactions between the tip and sample. Actin is one of
the most important proteins, involved extensively in various cell physiological
activities and functions in eukaryotes. The present paper clarified the crucial
significance and the enormous applicable prospects of AFM in modern biological
sciences by reviewing the usage of AFM in actin study, which can be taken as a
good example for expounding almost all functions that AFM owns, and can be
utilized in life sciences exploration.
Key words atomic force microscopy
(AFM); actin; application
*Corresponding author: Tel, 86-23-65102508/65104805; Fax, 86-23-65316247; e-mail, [email protected]