Francius Grégory, Lebeer Sarah, Alsteens David, Wildling Linda, Gruber Hermann J, Hols Pascal, De Keersmaecker Sigrid, Vanderleyden Jos, Dufrêne Yves F
Unite de Chimie des Interfaces, Universite Catholique de Louvain, Croix du Sud 2/18, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
ACS Nano. 2008 Sep 23;2(9):1921-9. doi: 10.1021/nn800341b.
The nanoscale exploration of microbes using atomic force microscopy (AFM) is an exciting, rapidly evolving research field. Here, we show that single-molecule force spectroscopy is a valuable tool for the localization and conformational analysis of individual polysaccharides on live bacteria. We focus on the clinically important probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, demonstrating the power of AFM to reveal the coexistence of polysaccharide chains of different nature on the cell surface. Applicable to a wide variety of cells, this single molecule method offers exciting prospects for analyzing the heterogeneity and diversity of macromolecules constituting cell membranes and cell walls.
使用原子力显微镜（AFM）对微生物进行纳米级探索是一个令人兴奋且发展迅速的研究领域。在此，我们表明单分子力谱是用于活细菌上单个多糖的定位和构象分析的有价值工具。我们聚焦于具有临床重要性的益生菌鼠李糖乳杆菌GG，证明了AFM揭示细胞表面不同性质多糖链共存的能力。这种单分子方法适用于多种细胞，为分析构成细胞膜和细胞壁的大分子的异质性和多样性提供了令人兴奋的前景。
