Explains the basic technical knowledge needed to use AFM and demonstrates its multifarious uses in biomedicine and the life sciences. The applications range from morphostructural analyses of cellular structures, to the investigation of subcellular structures, to functional investigations, and reveal a way of looking at biological samples.

Highly experienced physicians and biologists clearly explain the basic technical knowledge needed to use AFM and demonstrate its multifarious uses in biomedicine and the life sciences. The applications range widely from morphostructural analyses of cellular structures, to the investigation of subcellular structures, to functional investigations, and reveal a powerful new way of looking at biological samples. The methods clearly demonstrate the advantages of AFM over traditional life science microscopy, among them simultaneous very high magnification and resolution, minimal tissue and cell preparation, and the ability to obtain different views of the sample from a single data collection.

Part I. The Basics of Atomic Force Microscopy
How the Atomic Force Microscope Works
Davide Ricci and Pier Carlo Braga
Imaging Methods in Atomic Force Microscopy
Davide Ricci and Pier Carlo Braga
Recognizing and Avoiding Artifacts in AFM Imaging
Davide Ricci and Pier Carlo Braga
Advanced Biosensing Using Micromechanical Cantilever Arrays
Martin Hegner and Youri Arntz
Part II. Morphostructural Analysis of Cellular Structures
Analysis of Human Fibroblasts by Atomic Force Microscopy
Gillian R. Bushell, Colm Cahill, Sverre Myhra, and Gregory S. Watson
Corneal Tissue Observed by Atomic Force Microscopy
Stylliani Lydataki, Miltiadis K. Tsilimbaris, Eric S. Lesniewska, Alain Bron, and Iannis G. Pallikaris
AFM Study of Surface Structure Changes in Mouse Spermatozoa Associated With Maturation
Hiroko Takano and Kazuhiro Abe
Calculation of Cuticle Step Heights from AFM Images of Outer Surfaces of Human Hair
James R. Smith
Imaging Living Chondrocyte Surface Structures With AFM Contact Mode
Gerlinde Bischoff, Anke Bernstein, David Wohlrab, and Hans-Joachim Hein
Growth Cones of Living Neurons Probed by Atomic Force Microscopy
Davide Ricci, Massimo Grattarola, and Mariateresa Tedesco
Evaluating Demineralization and Mechanical Properties of Human Dentin With AFM
Grayson W. Marshall, Jr., Sally J. Marshall, Mehdi Balooch, and John H. Kinney
Applying Atomic Force Microscopy to Studies in Cardiac Physiology
Jason J. Davis, Trevor Powell, and H. Allen O. Hill
Imaging Bacterial Shape, Surface, and Appendages Before and After Treatments With Antibiotics
Pier Carlo Braga and Davide Ricci
Part III. Subcellular Structures Investigation
Visualizing Nuclear Structure In Situ by Atomic Force Microscopy
Luis Felipe Jimenez-Garcia and Maria de Lourdes Segura-Valdez
Imaging Surface and Submembranous Structures in Living Cells With the Atomic Force Microscope: Notes and Tricks
Filip Braet and Eddie Wisse
Atomic Force Microscopy of Protein Complexes
Olga I. Kiselyova and Igor V. Yaminsky
Atomic Force Microscopy of Interfacial Monomolecular Films of Pulmonary Surfactant
Kaushik Nag, Robert R. Harbottle, Amiyo K. Panda, and Nils O. Petersen
High-Resolution Analysis of the 3D Organization of Human Metaphase Chromosomes
Stefan Thalhammer, Pietro Gobbi, Mirella Falconi, Giovanni Mazzotti, and Wolfgang M. Heckl
Shape and Volume of Living Aldosterone-Sensitive Cells Imaged With the Atomic Force Microscope
Stefan W. Schneider, Rainer Matzke, Manfred Radmacher, and Hans Oberleithner
Localization of Epithelial Sodium Channels by Atomic Force Microscopy
Peter R. Smith and Dale J. Benos
High-Resolution Imaging of Bacteriorhodopsin by Atomic Force Microscopy
Dimitrios Fotiadis and Andreas Engel
Part IV. Functional Investigations With AFM
Measurement of Mechanical Properties of Intact Endothelial Cells in Fresh Arteries
Hiroshi Miyazaki and Kozaburo Hayashi
Observation of Oxidative Stress on Yeast Cells
Ricardo de Souza Pereira
Lymphoblastoid Cells Exposed to Low-Frequency Magnetic Fields: Study by Atomic Force Microscopy
Settimio Grimaldi, Marco Girasole, and Antonio Cricenti
Sample Preparation Method for Observing RNA Polymerase Activity by Atomic Force Microscopy
Sandor Kasas
Atomic Force Microscopy of b-Amyloid: Static and Dynamic Studies of Nanostructure and Its Formation
Justin Legleiter and Tomasz Kowalewski
How to Build Up Biosensors With the Cantilever of the Atomic Force Microscope
Ricardo de Souza Pereira
Measurement of Single Molecular Interactions by Dynamic Force Microscopy
Martin Hegner, Wilfried Grange, and Patricia Bertoncini
Index