Yamamoto Susumu, Hitomi Jiro, Sawaguchi Shoichi, Abe Haruki, Shigeno Masatsugu, Ushiki Tatsuo
Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Niigata University, Japan.
Jpn J Ophthalmol. 2002 Sep-Oct;46(5):496-501. doi: 10.1016/s0021-5155(02)00558-0.
We attempted to analyze the three-dimensional ultrastructure of human corneal and scleral collagen fibrils with an atomic force microscope (AFM).
A normal eye removed from a 66-year-old male patient during therapy was used in this study. Suspended corneal and scleral collagen fibrils were individually attached to glass slides by centrifugation. These collagen fibrils were air-dried and observed with a noncontact-mode AFM in air.
AFM imaging provided information on the surface topography of both corneal and scleral collagen fibrils. The corneal collagen fibrils had a height of 11.9 +/- 1.0 nm (mean +/- SD) and scleral fibrils a height of 82.5 +/- 35.6 nm. A periodic banding pattern of grooves and ridges was clearly found on both types of fibrils; the D-periodicity and the groove depth were 65.7 +/- 0.8 nm and 1.46 +/- 0.50 nm in the corneal fibrils, and 67.3 +/- 1.1 nm and 6.16 +/- 1.23 nm in the scleral fibrils.
Surface topographic images of human corneal and scleral collagen fibrils were clearly obtained with the AFM. This technique provides quantitative information on the surface morphology of the collagen fibrils at high resolution.
我们试图用原子力显微镜（AFM）分析人角膜和巩膜胶原纤维的三维超微结构。
本研究使用了一名66岁男性患者在治疗期间摘除的一只正常眼睛。通过离心将悬浮的角膜和巩膜胶原纤维分别附着在载玻片上。这些胶原纤维经空气干燥后，在空气中用非接触模式的AFM进行观察。
AFM成像提供了角膜和巩膜胶原纤维表面形貌的信息。角膜胶原纤维的高度为11.9±1.0纳米（平均值±标准差），巩膜纤维的高度为82.5±35.6纳米。在两种类型的纤维上均清晰地发现了由凹槽和脊组成的周期性条纹图案；角膜纤维的D周期和凹槽深度分别为65.7±0.8纳米和1.46±0.50纳米，巩膜纤维的分别为67.3±1.1纳米和6.16±1.23纳米。
用AFM清晰地获得了人角膜和巩膜胶原纤维的表面形貌图像。该技术在高分辨率下提供了关于胶原纤维表面形态的定量信息。
