Imaging Surface and Submembranous Structures in Living Cells With the Atomic Force Microscope: Notes and Tricks

In 1986, Binnig et al. (1 ) revolutionized microscopy through the invention of the atomic force microscope (AFM). Subsequently, commercial instruments of this new imaging technique began to appear in the 5 yr after its discovery. In the early 1990s, Henderson et al. (2 ) and Radmacher et al. (3 ) both illustrated the potential of the instrument to image biological preparations in real time under nearby physiological conditions with nanometer resolution. From that point onwards the AFM has attracted biologists and the number of publications describing biological applications of AFM have grown rapidly (4 ).