Kumar S, Hoh J H
Department of Physiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Traffic. 2001 Nov;2(11):746-56. doi: 10.1034/j.1600-0854.2001.21102.x.
Atomic force microscopy has emerged as a powerful tool for characterizing single biological macromolecules, macromolecular assemblies, and whole cells in aqueous buffer, in real time, and at molecular-scale spatial and force resolution. Many of the central elements of intracellular transport are tens to hundreds of nanometers in size and highly dynamic. Thus, atomic force microscopy provides a valuable means of addressing questions of structure and mechanism in intracellular transport. We begin this review of recent efforts to apply atomic force microscopy to problems in intracellular transport by discussing the technical principles behind atomic force microscopy. We then turn to three specific areas in which atomic force microscopy has been applied to problems with direct implications for intracellular trafficking: cytoskeletal structure and dynamics, vesicular transport, and receptor-ligand interactions. In each case, we discuss studies which use both intact cellular elements and reconstituted models. While many technical challenges remain, these studies point to several areas where atomic force microscopy can be used to provide valuable insight into intracellular transport at exquisite spatial and energetic resolution.
原子力显微镜已成为一种强大的工具，可用于实时、在分子尺度的空间和力分辨率下，在水性缓冲液中对单个生物大分子、大分子组装体和整个细胞进行表征。细胞内运输的许多核心元件尺寸在几十到几百纳米之间，并且高度动态。因此，原子力显微镜为解决细胞内运输中的结构和机制问题提供了一种有价值的手段。我们通过讨论原子力显微镜背后的技术原理，开始对最近将原子力显微镜应用于细胞内运输问题的研究进行综述。然后，我们转向三个特定领域，其中原子力显微镜已被应用于对细胞内运输有直接影响的问题：细胞骨架结构和动力学、囊泡运输以及受体 - 配体相互作用。在每种情况下，我们都讨论了使用完整细胞元件和重组模型的研究。虽然仍然存在许多技术挑战，但这些研究指出了几个领域，在这些领域中原子力显微镜可用于以精确的空间和能量分辨率为细胞内运输提供有价值的见解。
