INSERM U1006, Institut Curie, 26 rue d'Ulm, 75005 Paris, France.
Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2011 Oct;15(5):704-9. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2011.05.007. Epub 2011 May 31.
For surface analysis of biological molecules, atomic force microscopy (AFM) is an appealing technique combining data acquisition under physiological conditions, for example buffer solution, room temperature and ambient pressure, and high resolution. However, a key feature of life, dynamics, could not be assessed until recently because of the slowness of conventional AFM setups. Thus, for observing bio-molecular processes, the gain of image acquisition speed signifies a key progress. Here, we review the development and recent achievements using high-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM). The HS-AFM is now the only technique to assess structure and dynamics of single molecules, revealing molecular motor action and diffusion dynamics. From this imaging data, watching molecules at work, novel and direct insights could be gained concerning the structure, dynamics and function relationship at the single bio-molecule level.
对于生物分子的表面分析，原子力显微镜（AFM）是一种很有吸引力的技术，它结合了在生理条件下的数据采集，例如缓冲溶液、室温以及环境压力，并且具有高分辨率。然而，直到最近，由于传统 AFM 设备的缓慢速度，生命的一个关键特征——动态，还无法进行评估。因此，为了观察生物分子过程，提高图像采集速度是一个关键的进展。在这里，我们回顾了使用高速原子力显微镜（HS-AFM）的发展和最新成果。HS-AFM 现在是唯一能够评估单个分子结构和动力学的技术，揭示了分子马达的作用和扩散动力学。从这些成像数据中，我们可以直接观察到分子的工作状态，从而在单个生物分子水平上获得关于结构、动力学和功能关系的新的、直接的见解。
