The increasing availability of confocal microscopy has begun a revolution in plant biology in which microscopy has again become a powerful tool for understanding structure and function. Examples of applications include: three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of the interphase ...

The use of antibodies to visualize the distribution and subcellular localization of gene products powerfully complements genetic and molecular analysis of gene function in Caenorhabditis elegans. Double and triple staining protocols are particularly useful for several rea ...

Imaging animal fertilization presents a number of unique challenges that arise from the unusual nature of the cells involved. Eggs are among the largest cells produced by animals, and sperm are frequently the smallest. Observation of the initial steps of fertilization, including sperm- ...

One can easily distinguish between two general modes of operation of the atomic force microscope (AFM) depending on absence or presence in the instrumentation of an additional device that forces the cantilever to oscillate in the proximity of its resonant frequency. The first case is usually ...

Microscopes have always been one of the essential instruments for research in the biomedical field. Radiation-based microscopes (such as the light microscope and the electron microscope) have become trustworthy companions in the laboratory and have contributed greatly to our sci ...

Images taken with the atomic force microscope (AFM) originate in physical interactions that are totally different from those used for image formation in conventional light and electron microscopy. One of the effects is that a new series of artifacts can appear in images that may not be readily re ...

A large body of recent literature describes the use of atomic force microscopy (AFM; ref. 1) for the study of living cells. These experimental findings clearly indicate that AFM is a very valuable tool for the 3D imaging of flat biological samples strongly adhering to a substrate, with a lateral resol ...

During the last few years, a series of new detection methods in the field of biosensors have been developed. Biosensors are analytical devices that combine a biologically sensitive element with a physical or chemical transducer to selectively and quantitatively detect the presence of sp ...

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a valuable technique for the study of demineralization and the effects of other solutions and environments on the structure of human dentin because high-resolution studies of changes in structure and dimensions are possible in nearly any environment ov ...

At the present time there exists a great deal of interest in the application of scanning probe microscopy methods to the imaging of cellular systems (1,2). It would now not be an exaggeration to state that atomic force microscopy (AFM), in particular, represents perhaps the most powerful means of str ...

Bacteria are typically smaller than eukaryotic cells. The average diameter of Staphylococcus aureus is 1�0.5 μm, whereas Escherichia coli is on average 0.5�1.5 μm. The bacterial cell is also characterized by the presence of a complex external rigid structure called cell wall, which protects ...

The force-sensing members of the large family of scanning probe microscopies have become important tools during the past decade for visualizing, characterizing, and manipulating objects and processes on the meso- and nanoscale level. The atomic force microscope (AFM), in particular, ...

The cornea is the transparent avascular part of the anterior segment of the eye and consists of a stratified nonkeratinizing squamous epithelium, a stromal dense connective tissue layer, and an endothelium facing the anterior chamber. The cornea contributes largely to the intraocular ...

If a sample has a comparatively even surface and is fixed on a sample stage, atomic force microscopy (AFM) will give a clear image of the surface structure at subnanometer level (1,2). Because a sperm head is flat and can be attached on the slide glass firmly after it is fixed, we consider that AFM is the competent to ...

In its most established mode of operation, named constant force contact mode, atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been applied to image the 2D and 3D architecture of surfaces. Any deflection of the tip as a result of surface topography is recorded. The microscope reconstructs an image of the surface f ...

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is an ideal technique for noninvasive examination of hair surfaces (1–11), providing a wealth of structural information not always apparent from electron microscopy. The fine cuticular structure of human head hair is of interest to those engaged in the fields ...

The cell nucleus is an organelle where molecules involved in gene expression are highly compartmentalized (1) in very dynamic (2) territories. This current notion of functional organization has been possible because of many studies of this organelle that included its cell and molecular ...

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 illu ...

Pulmonary surfactant (PS) is a lipid protein complex secreted at the terminal airways of the lung. The material is secreted as lipid rich multilamellate bodies, which transforms into lipid—protein tubules, planar bilayers, and monomolecular films at the alveolar air—aqueous interf ...

Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) is a rather new family of surface studies methods, having broad applications to biomedical science. The main advantage of SPM over conventional microscopic techniques (i.e., scanning and transmission electron microscopy) is its ability to study livi ...