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Visualizing Molecular Dynamics by High-Speed Atomic Force Microscopy

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Single Molecule Analysis

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2694))

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Abstract

Dynamic processes and structural changes of biological molecules are essential to life. While conventional atomic force microscopy (AFM) is able to visualize molecules and supramolecular assemblies at sub-nanometer resolution, it cannot capture dynamics because of its low imaging rate. The introduction of high-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM) solved this problem by providing a large increase in imaging velocity. Using HS-AFM, one is able to visualize dynamic molecular events with high spatiotemporal resolution under near-to physiological conditions. This approach opened new windows as finally dynamics of biomolecules at sub-nanometer resolution could be studied. Here we describe the working principles and an operation protocol for HS-AFM imaging and characterization of biological samples in liquid.

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Acknowledgments

WHR acknowledges support from the EU H2020-INFRAIA infrastructure grant “MOSBRI” (101004806) and through the Dieptestrategie funding of the Zernike Institute National Research Centre.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Molecular Biophysics, Zernike Instituut, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Chris van Ewijk, Sourav Maity & Wouter H. Roos

Authors
  1. Chris van Ewijk
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  2. Sourav Maity
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  3. Wouter H. Roos
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wouter H. Roos .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. LaserLaB Amsterdam and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Iddo Heller

  2. LaserLaB Amsterdam and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    David Dulin

  3. LaserLaB Amsterdam and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Erwin J.G. Peterman

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van Ewijk, C., Maity, S., Roos, W.H. (2024). Visualizing Molecular Dynamics by High-Speed Atomic Force Microscopy. In: Heller, I., Dulin, D., Peterman, E.J. (eds) Single Molecule Analysis . Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2694. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3377-9_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3377-9_17

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-3376-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-3377-9

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