Nanostructures Department, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Morego 30, 16163 Genova, Italy.
Microsc Res Tech. 2012 Dec;75(12):1723-31. doi: 10.1002/jemt.22122. Epub 2012 Sep 13.
Many relevant questions in biology and medicine require both topography and chemical information with high spatial resolution. Several biological events that occur at the nanometer scale level need to be investigated in physiological conditions. In this regard Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) is one of the most powerful tools for label-free nanoscale characterization of biological samples in liquid environment. Recently, the coupling of Raman spectroscopy to scanning probe microscopies has opened new perspectives on this subject; however, the coupling of quality AFM spectroscopy with Raman spectroscopy in the same probe is not trivial. In this work we report about the AFM capabilities of an advanced high-resolution probe that has been previously nanofabricated by our group for coupling with Raman spectroscopy applications. We investigate its use for liquid AFM measurements on biological model samples like lipid bilayers, amyloid fibrils, and titin proteins. We demonstrate topography resolution down to nanometer level, force measurement and stable imaging capability. We also discuss about its potential as nanoscale chemical probe in liquid phase.
许多生物学和医学相关的问题都需要具有高空间分辨率的形貌和化学信息。一些发生在纳米尺度水平的生物学事件需要在生理条件下进行研究。在这方面，原子力显微镜（AFM）是在液体环境中对生物样品进行无标记纳米级特性分析的最有力工具之一。最近，将拉曼光谱与扫描探针显微镜相结合为该领域开辟了新的视角；然而，在同一探针中将高质量的 AFM 光谱与拉曼光谱相结合并非易事。在这项工作中，我们报告了一种先进的高分辨率探针的 AFM 功能，该探针是由我们小组以前为耦合拉曼光谱应用而 nanofabricated 的。我们研究了它在生物模型样品（如脂质双层、淀粉样纤维和肌联蛋白）的液体 AFM 测量中的用途。我们证明了其具有纳米级的形貌分辨率、力测量和稳定成像能力。我们还讨论了它在液相中作为纳米级化学探针的潜力。
