Department of Physics and the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute , Technion - Israel Institute of Technology , Haifa , 3200003 , Israel.
Nano Lett. 2018 Apr 11;18(4):2733-2737. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b00854. Epub 2018 Mar 27.
Hydration interaction shapes biomolecules and is a dominant intermolecular force. Mapping the hydration patterns of biomolecules is therefore essential for understanding molecular processes in biology. Numerous studies have been devoted to this challenge, but current methods cannot map the hydration of single biomolecules, let alone do so under physiological conditions. Here, we show that frequency-modulation atomic force microscopy (FM-AFM) can fill this gap and generate 3D hydration maps of single DNA molecules under near-physiological conditions. Additionally, we present real-space images of DNA in which the double helix is resolved with unprecedented resolution, clearly revealing individual phosphate groups along the DNA backbone. FM-AFM therefore emerges as a powerful enabling tool in the study of individual biomolecules and their hydration under physiological conditions.
水合作用塑造了生物分子，并成为一种主要的分子间作用力。因此，绘制生物分子的水合模式对于理解生物学中的分子过程至关重要。许多研究都致力于应对这一挑战，但目前的方法无法绘制单个生物分子的水合作用，更不用说在生理条件下进行了。在这里，我们展示了调频原子力显微镜（FM-AFM）可以填补这一空白，并在近生理条件下生成单个 DNA 分子的 3D 水合图。此外，我们还展示了 DNA 的实空间图像，其中以空前的分辨率解析了双螺旋结构，清晰地显示了 DNA 骨架上的各个磷酸基团。因此，FM-AFM 成为研究生理条件下单个生物分子及其水合作用的强大工具。
