正常人脐静脉内皮细胞的原子力显微镜观察

目的:利用原子力显微镜(AFM)在单细胞水平分析正常人脐静脉内皮细胞的形貌特征和机械性质,为了解内皮细胞结构与功能的关系奠定基础.方法:新鲜人脐静脉内灌注质量分数为0.25%胰蛋白酶消化,获得人脐静脉内皮细胞(HUVECs),M199培养基进行培养,免疫细胞化学检测内皮细胞第Ⅷ因子的表达.将体外培养的HUVECs用质量...     

An atomic force microscopy study of coal nanopore structure

Coal nanopore structure is an important factor in understanding the storage and migration of absorbed gas in coal. A new method for studying coal nanopore structures is proposed. This idea is based on the nano-level resolution of atomic force microscopy, which can be employed to observe the structural features of coal nanopores clearly, conduct quantitative three-dimensional measurements and obtain structural parameters. Analysis results show that coal nanopores are mainly metamorphic pores and intermolecul...     

Determination of hydration film thickness using atomic force microscopy

Surface forces between particles control phenomenasuch as dispersion, agglomeration, coatings, adhesion,wetting, friction, and polishing, which play a crucial rolein materials processing. The importance of surface forcesis more appreciated especially in colloidal processing,while materials in a colloidal state are frequently preferredin industrial processing operations (e.g., printing inks,toners, paints, skin creams, blood substitutes, gels used asdrug-delivery systems, etc.) because their lar…     

Elimination of bistability in constant-phase mode in atomic force microscopy

By presenting the phase properties of bistability in amplitude-modulation atomic force microscopy, we put forward a technique, the constant-phase mode, which may eliminate bistability. Using this approach, we keep the phase shift between driving and oscillation constant, slightly above -90°. In addition to the adjustment of the free amplitude, we add to amplitude-modulation atomic force microscopy another feedback so that the tip always oscillates in the high-amplitude state. A numerical simulation is carried out to demonstrate that the algorithm prevents bistability effectively.     

Chemical identification of individual surface atoms by atomic force microscopy

Scanning probe microscopy is a versatile and powerful method that uses sharp tips to image, measure and manipulate matter at surfaces with atomic resolution. At cryogenic temperatures, scanning probe microscopy can even provide electron tunnelling spectra that serve as fingerprints of the vibrational properties of adsorbed molecules and of the electronic properties of magnetic impurity atoms, thereby allowing chemical identification. But in many instances, and particularly for insulating systems, determining the exact chemical composition of surfaces or nanostructures remains a considerable challenge. In principle, dynamic force microscopy should make it possible to overcome this problem: it can image insulator, semiconductor and metal surfaces with true atomic resolution, by detecting and precisely measuring the short-range forces that arise with the onset of chemical bonding between the tip and surface atoms and that depend sensitively on the chemical identity of the atoms involved. Here we report precise measurements of such short-range chemical forces, and show that their dependence on the force microscope tip used can be overcome through a normalization procedure. This allows us to use the chemical force measurements as the basis for atomic recognition, even at room temperature. We illustrate the performance of this approach by imaging the surface of a particularly challenging alloy system and successfully identifying the three constituent atomic species silicon, tin and lead, even though these exhibit very similar chemical properties and identical surface position preferences that render any discrimination attempt based on topographic measurements impossible.     

Micro-friction of diazoresin/polyacrylic acid self-assembly films in water with atomic force microscopy

Ultrathin films composed of diazoresin（DR）and polyacrylic acid（PAA）were fabricated.The surface morphology of the films in water was measured using an atomic force microscopy（AFM）.The self-assembly technique makes the surface rather flat and uniform.The friction force and its dependence on the velocity differ from the surface charge of the thin films.The friction force of repulsive DR/PAA film increases linearly with velocity and has lower values than that of attractive DR film over the full range of velocity.As the velocity increases,the attractive friction of DR film first decreases to a minimum at a velocity of 2 line/s and then increases all the way.When the surface is repulsive to the friction substrate,the friction of thin films that is determined by hydrated lubrication of polymer chains that is ultralubricated;when it is adhesive to the friction substrate,the friction is mainly contributed from the elastic deformation of adsorbed polymer chains in the low velocity region and from viscous sliding in the presence of hydrated-layer lubrication of the polymer chains in the higher velocity region.     

Video imaging of walking myosin V by high-speed atomic force microscopy

The dynamic behaviour of myosin V molecules translocating along actin filaments has been mainly studied by optical microscopy. The processive hand-over-hand movement coupled with hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate was thereby demonstrated. However, the protein molecules themselves are invisible in the observations and have therefore been visualized by electron microscopy in the stationary states. The concomitant assessment of structure and dynamics has been unfeasible, a situation prevailing throughout biological research. Here we directly visualize myosin V molecules walking along actin tracks, using high-speed atomic force microscopy. The high-resolution movies not only provide corroborative 'visual evidence' for previously speculated or demonstrated molecular behaviours, including lever-arm swing, but also reveal more detailed behaviours of the molecules, leading to a comprehensive understanding of the motor mechanism. Our direct and dynamic high-resolution visualization is a powerful new approach to studying the structure and dynamics of biomolecules in action.     

原子力显微镜针尖在试样表面滑动的力学模型

建立了原子力显微镜针尖在试样表面滑动的力学模型，并通过实验进行了验证。结果表明，粒子间距变大使摩擦力曲线的周期变大，振幅变小；作用势V0反映的是表面自由能的大小，V0增大，摩擦力曲线的振幅变大；阻尼反映的是速度对摩擦力的影响，阻尼变小，摩擦力曲线的振幅基本保持不变，曲线整体下移，但幅度较小。在一定范围内速度对摩擦力的影响不大。     

利用原子力显微镜研究晶体缺陷

首次利用原子力显微镜研究晶体表面缺陷,给出了经腐蚀后的KTiOAsO4晶体表面铁电畴和位错蚀坑的清晰照片和定量信息。对实验结果和方法进行了讨论。指出这种实验方法具有放大倍数高,分辨率可达原子量级,可以给出物质表面结构的定量信息和立体图像等特点,并且具体探讨了利用原子力显微镜研究晶体表面缺陷的一些实验技术问题。     

The asymmetric membrane structure of erythrocytes from Crucian carp studied by atomic force microscopy

Cell membranes play a key role in cellular activities. Fish erythrocytes, prototype of the nucleated erythrocytes of lower vertebrates, are predominantly oval, biconvex discs with elliptical nucleus and much larger in size than human erythrocytes. In attempts to disclose the correlation of membrane structure between fish and human erythrocytes, we used in situ atomic force microscope （AFM） combined with single-molecule force spectroscopy to study the membrane structure of Crucian carp erythrocytes under quasi-native conditions. Our results revealed the asymmetric distribution of proteins in Crucian carp erythrocyte membrane： the outer leaflet of membrane is rather smooth without any proteins, whereas the inner leaflet of membrane is very rough with dense proteins. The asymmetry of fish erythrocyte membrane structure fits well with the semi-mosaic model of human erythrocyte membrane structure. This similarity of membrane structure between human and fish erythrocytes extends the semimosaic model of erythrocytes membrane structure to a wider range of species.     

间歇模原子力显微镜扫描探针的受迫振动解

提出了一个间隙模原子力显微镜全动态工作的模型 ,用参数变换和模式展开方法 ,得到了具有粘滞阻尼和分段线性相互作用力的扫描探针的受迫弯曲振动微分方程的分析解 ,间歇模原子力显微镜扫描探针的受迫振动解 ,由接触模解和非接触模解交替工作而构成     

戊二醛对原子力显微镜观测大肠杆菌的影晌

戊二醛作为生物材料的固定剂,在原子力显微镜（AFM）制样中已广泛使用．虽然已有用戊二醛观测大肠杆菌的文献报道,但到目前为止,关于戊二醛在AFM观测大肠杆菌中的作用还缺乏系统研究．首先分析AFM扫描图像的假像,进而探讨戊二醛的浓度和固定时间对AFM图像质量和大肠杆菌表面形貌的影响．结果表明,戊二醛的浓度和固定时间对AFM图像的清晰度、大肠杆菌的微观结构以及细胞的三维尺寸都有着重要影响．在相同固定条件下所扫描的AFM图像与扫描电子显微镜（SEM）图像对比发现,两者的形貌相似,而AFM图像比SEM图像分辨率更高,在定量分析上也更有优势．     

Orientation of molecular interface dipole on metal surface investigated by noncontact atomic force microscopy

We investigated the orientations of interface dipole moments of individual non-planar titanyl phthalocyanine(TiOPc)molecules on Cu(111)and Cu(100)substrates using scanning tunneling microscope(STM)and noncontact atomic force microscope(NC-AFM).The dipole moment orientations corresponding to two different configurations of individual TiOPc molecules were determined unambiguously.The correlation between the actual molecular structures and the corresponding STM topographies is proposed based on the sub-molecular resolution imaging and local contact potential difference(LCPD)measurements.Comparing with the pristine substrate,the LCPD shift due to the adsorption of non-planar molecule is dependent on the permanent molecular dipole,the charge transfer between the surface and the molecule,and the molecular configurations.This work would shed light on tailoring interfacial electronic properties and controlling local physical properties via polar molecule adsorption.     

Three-dimensional X-ray structural microscopy with submicrometre resolution

Advanced materials and processing techniques are based largely on the generation and control of non-homogeneous microstructures, such as precipitates and grain boundaries. X-ray tomography can provide three-dimensional density and chemical distributions of such structures with submicrometre resolution; structural methods exist that give submicrometre resolution in two dimensions; and techniques are available for obtaining grain-centroid positions and grain-average strains in three dimensions. But non-destructive point-to-point three-dimensional structural probes have not hitherto been available for investigations at the critical mesoscopic length scales (tenths to hundreds of micrometres). As a result, investigations of three-dimensional mesoscale phenomena--such as grain growth, deformation, crumpling and strain-gradient effects--rely increasingly on computation and modelling without direct experimental input. Here we describe a three-dimensional X-ray microscopy technique that uses polychromatic synchrotron X-ray microbeams to probe local crystal structure, orientation and strain tensors with submicrometre spatial resolution. We demonstrate the utility of this approach with micrometre-resolution three-dimensional measurements of grain orientations and sizes in polycrystalline aluminium, and with micrometre depth-resolved measurements of elastic strain tensors in cylindrically bent silicon. This technique is applicable to single-crystal, polycrystalline, composite and functionally graded materials.     

Research progress in quantifying the mechanical properties of single living cells using atomic force microscopy

The advent of atomic force microscopy （AFM） provides a powerful tool for investigating the behaviors of single living cells under near physiological conditions. Besides acquiring the images of cellular ultra-microstruc- tures with nanometer resolution, the most remarkable advances are achieved on the use of AFM indenting tech- nique to quantify the mechanical properties of single living ceils. By indenting single living cells with AFM tip, we can obtain the mechanical properties of cells and monitor their dynamic changes during the biological processes （e.g., after the stimulation of drugs）. AFM indentation-based mechan- ical analysis of single cells provides a novel approach to characterize the behaviors of cells from the perspective of biomechanics, considerably complementing the traditional biological experimental methods. Now, AFM indentation technique has been widely used in the life sciences, yielding a large amount of novel information that is meaningful to our understanding of the underlying mechanisms that govern the cellular biological functions. Here, based on the authors＇ own researches on AFM measurement of cellular mechani- cal properties, the principle and method of AFM indentationtechnique was presented, the recent progress of measuring the cellular mechanical properties using AFM was summa- rized, and the challenges of AFM single-cell nanomechani- cal analysis were discussed.     

Glutamate receptors at atomic resolution

At synapses throughout the brain and spinal cord, the amino-acid glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter. During evolution, a family of glutamate-receptor ion channels seems to have been assembled from a kit consisting of discrete ligand-binding, ion-channel, modulatory and cytoplasmic domains. Crystallographic studies that exploit this unique architecture have greatly aided structural analysis of the ligand-binding core, but the results also pose a formidable challenge, namely that of resolving the allosteric mechanisms by which individual domains communicate and function in an intact receptor.     

Reaction path of protein farnesyltransferase at atomic resolution

Protein farnesyltransferase (FTase) catalyses the attachment of a farnesyl lipid group to numerous essential signal transduction proteins, including members of the Ras superfamily. The farnesylation of Ras oncoproteins, which are associated with 30% of human cancers, is essential for their transforming activity. FTase inhibitors are currently in clinical trials for the treatment of cancer. Here we present a complete series of structures representing the major steps along the reaction coordinate of this enzyme. From these observations can be deduced the determinants of substrate specificity and an unusual mechanism in which product release requires binding of substrate, analogous to classically processive enzymes. A structural model for the transition state consistent with previous mechanistic studies was also constructed. The processive nature of the reaction suggests the structural basis for the successive addition of two prenyl groups to Rab proteins by the homologous enzyme geranylgeranyltransferase type-II. Finally, known FTase inhibitors seem to differ in their mechanism of inhibiting the enzyme.     

红枣多糖微结构的原子力显微镜观测

应用原子力显微镜，对红枣多糖的微观形貌进行了观测研究，给出最佳观察方法．发现其单个分子链及其多个侧枝、聚合物链分子间互相缠绕，链间通过糖单元间不同的连接方式衍生出许多聚集体，大小在150-300nm范围内，从而直接证实了多糖大分子具有高度分枝的化学结构．同时发现红枣多糖两股糖链呈螺旋型紧密排列、多个糖链缠绕成股的情况，提示多糖在结构上可能存在类似蛋白质的自组装现象．