Atomic force microscopy articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The membrane attack complex (MAC) is a hetero-oligomeric protein assembly that kills pathogens by perforating their cell envelopes. Here, the authors use atomic force microscopy to show that MAC proteins oligomerize within the membrane, allowing them to identify the kinetic bottleneck of MAC formation.

    • Edward S. Parsons
    • , George J. Stanley
    •  & Bart W. Hoogenboom

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) is widely used to study piezoelectric properties of materials. Here, the authors not only show that PFM measurements will yield a signal even in non-piezoelectric materials via induced flexoelectricity, but also introduce a protocol to distinguish these from real signals.

    • Amir Abdollahi
    • , Neus Domingo
    •  & Gustau Catalan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Microtubules in cilia are sufficiently stable to withstand the beating motion, but how they are stabilized while serving as tracks for intraflagellar transport and axonemal dyneins remains unknown. Here authors identify two microtubule inner proteins, FAP45 and FAP52, which stabilize the ciliary axonemes in Chlamydomonas.

    • Mikito Owa
    • , Takayuki Uchihashi
    •  & Masahide Kikkawa

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The dynamics of biomolecules can occur over a wide range of time and length scales. Here the authors develop a high-speed AFM height spectroscopy method to directly detect the motion of unlabeled molecules at Angstrom spatial and microsecond temporal resolution.

    • George R. Heath
    •  & Simon Scheuring

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Red blood cell disorders are often accompanied by increased release of extracellular vesicles (EVs), but their structural and mechanical properties are not fully understood. Here, the authors show that red blood cell EVs show liposome-like mechanical features and are softened in blood disorder patients.

    • Daan Vorselen
    • , Susan M. van Dommelen
    •  & Wouter H. Roos

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Manual sample deposition on a substrate can introduce artifacts in quantitative AFM measurements. Here the authors present a microfluidic spray device for reliable deposition of subpicoliter droplets which dry out in milliseconds after landing on the surface, thereby avoiding protein self-assembly.

    • Francesco Simone Ruggeri
    • , Jerome Charmet
    •  & Tuomas P. J. Knowles

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Atomic force microscopy is an indispensable method in characterizing soft materials but the complexity of biological samples makes reproducible measurements difficult. Here the authors use a 3-step method to investigate biological specimens in which vertical and lateral heterogeneity hinders a precise quantitative characterization.

    • Massimiliano Galluzzi
    • , Guanlin Tang
    •  & Florian J. Stadler

  • Article
    | Open Access

    There is interest in the development of mussel inspired materials; however, this requires an understanding of the materials. Here, the authors report on an investigation into the properties of mussel cuticle from different species that challenges conventional wisdom about particle filled composites.

    • Christophe A. Monnier
    • , Daniel G. DeMartini
    •  & J. Herbert Waite

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The circadian clock proteins KaiA, KaiB, and KaiC reconstitute a circa-24 h oscillation of KaiC phosphorylation in vitro. Here the authors use high-speed atomic force microscopy to visualize in real time and quantify the dynamic interactions of KaiA with KaiC on the sub-second timescale to discover mechanisms of oscillatory resilience.

    • Tetsuya Mori
    • , Shogo Sugiyama
    •  & Toshio Ando

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The bacterial protein disaggregation machine ClpB uses ATP to generate mechanical force to unfold and thread its protein substrates. Here authors visualize the ClpB ring using high-speed atomic force microscopy and capture conformational changes of the hexameric ring during the ATPase reaction.

    • Takayuki Uchihashi
    • , Yo-hei Watanabe
    •  & Toshio Ando

  • Article
    | Open Access

    DNA and RNA G-quadruplexes can stack to form higher-order structures called G-wires. Here the authors report high-resolution AFM images of higher-order DNA G-quadruplexes in aqueous solution that could impact the design of G-wire based nanodevices and the understanding of G-wires in biology.

    • Krishnashish Bose
    • , Christopher J. Lech
    •  & Anh Tuân Phan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Local hydration structures at solid-liquid interfaces are important in catalytic, electrochemical, and biological processes. Here, the authors demonstrate atomic-scale 3D hydration structures around the boundary on a heterogeneous mineral surface using atomic force microscopy experiments and molecular dynamics simulations.

    • Kenichi Umeda
    • , Lidija Zivanovic
    •  & Hirofumi Yamada

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Force-distance curve-based atomic force microscopy can measure material nanomechanics, but only if the probe and material stiffness match, which limits the measurement range. Here, the authors broaden the dynamic range of the probe by up to four orders of magnitude using magnetic drive peak force modulation.

    • Xianghe Meng
    • , Hao Zhang
    •  & Hui Xie

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Physical mapping of DNA can be used to detect structural variants and for whole-genome haplotype assembly. Here, the authors use CRISPR-Cas9 and high-speed atomic force microscopy to ‘nanomap’ single molecules of DNA.

    • Andrey Mikheikin
    • , Anita Olsen
    •  & Jason Reed

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Piezoelectrics and ferroelectrics are important for everyday applications, but methods to characterize these materials at the nanoscale are lacking. Here the authors present direct piezoelectric force microscopy, an AFM mode that can measure charges generated by the direct piezoelectric effect with nanoscale resolution.

    • A. Gomez
    • , M. Gich
    •  & X. Obradors

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electronegativity is a fundamental concept in chemistry; however it is an elusive quantity to evaluate experimentally. Here, the authors estimate the Pauling electronegativity of individual atoms on a surface via atomic force microscopy using a variety of chemically reactive tips.

    • Jo Onoda
    • , Martin Ondráček
    •  & Yoshiaki Sugimoto

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The structure of water in the first layer on surfaces is essential to our understanding of various phenomena, such as surface wettability and heterogeneous catalysis. Here, the authors use atomic force microscopy with a CO-functionalized tip to image water defects on copper surface at atomic resolution.

    • Akitoshi Shiotari
    •  & Yoshiaki Sugimoto

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Interaction of fibronectin with αv-class and α5β1 integrins results in formation of cell adhesion complexes, but the initial events (<120 s) remain unclear. Here, the authors show that αv-class integrins bind fibronectin faster than α5β1 integrins and subsequently signal to α5ß1 integrins to strengthen the adhesion.

    • Mitasha Bharadwaj
    • , Nico Strohmeyer
    •  & Daniel J. Müller

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Resolution of classical piezoresponse force microscopy is limited in data acquisition rates and energy scales. Here, Somnath et al. report an approach for rapid probing of ferroelectric switching using direct strain detection of material response to probe bias, enabling spectroscopic imaging at a rate of 3,504 times faster the current state of the art.

    • Suhas Somnath
    • , Alex Belianinov
    •  & Stephen Jesse

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Fur protein regulates transcription of bacterial genes in response to metal ions. Here, the authors show that the Fur protein from Helicobacter pylorirepresses transcription by iron-responsive oligomerization and DNA compaction, encasing the transcriptional start site in a macromolecular complex.

    • Davide Roncarati
    • , Simone Pelliciari
    •  & Alberto Danielli

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Atomic force microscopy typically employs hard tips to map the surface topology of a sample, with sub-nanometre resolution. Here, the authors instead develop softer hydrogel probes, which show potential for multifunctional measurement capabilities beyond that of conventional systems.

    • Jae Seol Lee
    • , Jungki Song
    •  & Jungchul Lee

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Anatase is a pivotal material in devices for energy-harvesting applications and catalysis. Here, Stetsovych et al. demonstrate the potential of simultaneously combining atomic force microscopy and scanning tunnelling microscopy to identify the atomic species populating the (101) surface of anatase.

    • Oleksandr Stetsovych
    • , Milica Todorović
    •  & Oscar Custance

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The peptidoglycan (PG) layer of the Gram-positive bacteria cell wall resists turgor pressure, but the architecture of this layer is largely unknown. Here the authors use high resolution atomic force microscopy to image the PG layer from live Streptococcusto reveal a net-like arrangement that resists osmotic challenge by stretching and stiffening.

    • Ron Saar Dover
    • , Arkady Bitler
    •  & Yechiel Shai

  • Article |

    An often overlooked component of scanning probe microscopy involves information transfer from the tip–surface junction to a macroscopic measurement system. Here, the authors present an information–theory-based approach that relies on capturing the response at a wide-frequency band, allowing a complete and unbiased look at probing interaction.

    • Alexei Belianinov
    • , Sergei V. Kalinin
    •  & Stephen Jesse

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Bimodal atomic force microscopy is a promising approach in obtaining high-quality image contrast and material property mapping. Here, the authors show that by considering nonlinear response in bimodal atomic force microscopy, significant improvements in image contrast and material discrimination can be achieved.

    • Daniel Forchheimer
    • , Robert Forchheimer
    •  & David B. Haviland

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Minimizing vibrational energy loss between mechanical resonators and their supports in nanomechanical systems is highly desirable. Here, the authors use the tip of an atomic force microscope to press down on the clamping region of the resonator, so as to study and control energy loss of different vibrational modes.

    • Johannes Rieger
    • , Andreas Isacsson
    •  & Eva M. Weig

  • Article |

    The morphology of organic thin films has a strong influence on their practical device properties. Farina et al. demonstrate a patterning technique that modifies the conductivity of polymer thin films without affecting their morphology, which could be useful for non-volatile storage applications.

    • Marco Farina
    • , Tengling Ye
    •  & Panagiotis E. Keivanidis

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Flux-closure patterns are rarely observed in ferroelectric materials and almost exclusively form at the nanoscale. McQuaidet al. report mesoscopic dipole closure patterns formed in free-standing single-crystal lamellae of BaTiO3, thought to result from an unusual set of experimental conditions.

    • R.G.P. McQuaid
    • , L.J. McGilly
    •  & J.M. Gregg

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