实验仪器使用技术

MR-guided transcranial focused ultrasound (FUS) has been demonstrated as a non-invasive tool for treating various brain diseases. First, FUS can thermally ablate brain tissues under real-time MR thermometry monitoring. The MRI guidance significantly improves the precision of t ...

Applications of atomic force microscopy to ultrastructural investigation of human spermatozoa are �discussed, with particular emphasis to their most common pathological alterations, which are recognized to be associated with male infertility. Morphological alterati ...

A detailed report of experimental findings concerning the use of atomic force microscopy to probe growth cones of chick embryo spinal cord neurons under vital conditions is given. The role played by indentation in the making of images and force-versus-distance curves is critically discu ...

Erythrocytes (red blood cells, RBCs) are the most common type of blood cells in vertebrates. Many diseases and dysfunctions directly affect their structure and function. Employing the atomic force microscope (AFM) physical, chemical, and biological/physiological properties of R ...

Here, we describe the methodology currently used to analyze the structural organization of protozoa of the Trypanosomatidae family by atomic force microscopy. The results are compared with those obtained using light, scanning, and transmission electron microscopy.

Human rhinoviruses are the causative agents of the common cold. The serotypes belonging to the minor receptor group attach to members of the low-density lipoprotein receptor family and enter the host cell via receptor-mediated endocytosis. Receptor binding, the very first step in infec ...

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has proven to be a valuable approach to delineate the architectures and detailed structural features of a wide variety of viruses. These have ranged from small plant satellite viruses of only 17 nm to the giant mimivirus of 750 nm diameter, and they have included diver ...

The proteasome is the essential prime protease in all eukaryotes. The large, multisubunit, modular, and multifunctional enzyme is responsible for the majority of regulated intracellular protein degradation. It constitutes a part of the multienzyme ubiquitin–proteasome path ...

Methods for atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging of human metaphase chromosomes were �introduced in the present study. Chromosomes from the lymphocytes were fixed and prepared onto glass slides as the chromosome spread, and observed in phosphate-buffered saline by dynamic mode AFM. ...

Fibrillar collagens constitute a main component of many tissues, where they form a scaffold for cell attachment and provide mechanical strength. Gaining insight into molecular mechanisms of collagen self-assembly from in vitro experiments is important for better understanding ...

Here, we report a study of ex vivo amyloid fibrils formed, respectively, by the Leu174Ser Apolipoprotein A-I (ApoA-I-LS) variant and by β2-microglobulin (β2-m) (Relini et al., J. Biol. Chem. 281:16521–16529, 2006; Relini et al., Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1690:33–41, 2004). In the work on ApoA-I-LS, the AFM has ...

The atomic force microscope (AFM) is a very versatile tool for studying biological samples at �nanometre-scale resolution. The resolution one achieves depends on many factors, including the sample properties, the imaging environment, the AFM tip and cantilever probe characterist ...

Our experimental approach is based on the atomic force microscope (AFM) imaging of epitope-tagged subunits within membrane protein complexes purified in small amounts and decorated by anti-tag antibodies. Furthermore, we can produce simultaneous decoration of protein comple ...

Atomic force microscope (AFM) is unique in its capability to capture high-resolution images of biological samples in liquids. This capability will become more versatile to biological sciences if AFM additionally acquires an ability of high-speed imaging, because “direct and real-t ...

Recent findings clearly demonstrate that cells feel mechanical forces, and respond by altering their �phenotype and modulating their mechanical environment. Atomic force microscope (AFM) indentation can be used to mechanically stimulate cells and quantitatively charact ...

Protein–protein interactions are the basis of both biochemical and biophysical signaling of living cells. In many cases, the receptor is present on the cell surface while the ligand is in solution or linked to another support (extracellular matrix or another cell). In the case of cellular adhe ...

Bacterial infection is a major challenge in biomaterials development. The adhesion of microorganisms to the material surface is the first step in infectious conditions and this quickly leads to the formation of biofilms on a material surface. A unique attribute of atomic force microscopy ...

Cell adhesion is an essential prerequisite for survival, communication, and navigation of cells in organisms. It is maintained by the organized binding of molecules from the cell membrane to the extracellular space. This chapter focuses on direct measurements of cellular binding stre ...

Antibiotics are particular type of drugs that are able to interfere in different ways to the metabolic �pathways of bacteria. This causes also morphostructural alterations of cell wall and surface appendages (flagella, fimbriae or pili, and filaments).Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is ...

Thymol, a constituent of thyme essential oil that has been credited with interesting antimicrobial and antifungal effects, acts by interfering with the envelope of Candida albicans and this activity has been investigated by means of atomic force microscopy (AFM). Candida culture samp ...