Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI), Kanazawa University, Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa 920-1192, Japan.
Microscopy (Oxf). 2023 Apr 6;72(2):151-161. doi: 10.1093/jmicro/dfad011.
High-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM) is a unique approach that allows direct real-time visualization of biological macromolecules in action under near-physiological conditions, without any chemical labeling. Typically, the temporal resolution is sub-100 ms, and the spatial resolution is 2-3 nm in the lateral direction and ∼0.1 nm in the vertical direction. A wide range of biomolecular systems and their dynamic processes have been studied by HS-AFM, providing deep mechanistic insights into how biomolecules function. However, the level of mechanistic detail gleaned from an HS-AFM experiment critically depends on the spatiotemporal resolution of the system. In this review article, we explain the principle of HS-AFM and describe how the resolution is determined. We also discuss recent attempts to improve the resolution of HS-AFM to further extend the observable range of biological phenomena.
高速原子力显微镜（HS-AFM）是一种独特的方法，可在接近生理条件下直接实时可视化生物大分子的作用，而无需任何化学标记。通常，时间分辨率低于 100ms，横向空间分辨率为 2-3nm，垂直方向的分辨率约为 0.1nm。HS-AFM 已被用于研究广泛的生物分子系统及其动态过程，为了解生物分子的功能提供了深入的机制见解。然而，从 HS-AFM 实验中获得的机制细节水平取决于系统的时空分辨率。在这篇综述文章中，我们解释了 HS-AFM 的原理，并描述了如何确定分辨率。我们还讨论了最近为提高 HS-AFM 的分辨率以进一步扩展生物现象的可观察范围所做的尝试。
