Scanning ion conductance microscopy for imaging biological samples in liquid: A comparative study with atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy

Ushiki, Tatsuo; Nakajima, Masahiro; Choi, Myung-Hoon; Cho, Sang-Joon; Iwata, Futoshi

doi:10.1016/j.micron.2012.01.012

Cited by 81 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 49 publications

(60 reference statements)

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“…Another problem with AFM is artefacts arising from the mechanical interaction of the tip of the probe and soft cell surfaces, which can be deformed and easily pushed against cortical actin structures [31,36]. SICM is therefore a better choice for soft eukaryotic cells [37,38].…”

Section: Atomic Force Microscopymentioning

confidence: 99%

Consequences of membrane topography

Parmryd

Önfelt

2013

The FEBS Journal

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The surface of mammalian cells is neither smooth nor flat and cells have several times more plasma membrane than the minimum area required to accommodate their shape. We discuss the biological function of this apparent excess membrane that allows the cells to migrate and undergo shape changes and probably plays a role in signal transduction. Methods for studying membrane folding and topography -atomic force microscopy, scanning ion conductance microscopy, fluorescence polarization microscopy and linear dichroism -are described and evaluated. Membrane folding and topography is frequently ignored when interpreting microscopy data. This has resulted in several misconceptions regarding for instance colocalization, membrane organization and molecular clustering. We suggest simple ways to avoid these pitfalls and invoke Occam's razor -that simple explanations are preferable to complex ones. Topography, i.e. deviations from a smooth surface, should always be ruled out as the cause of anomalous data before other explanations are presented.

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Section: Atomic Force Microscopymentioning

confidence: 99%

Consequences of membrane topography

Parmryd

Önfelt

2013

The FEBS Journal

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“…3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 Taking into account that greases may contain large amount of lubrication oil, one of the main goals in this study was to establish a reliable method to observe the thickener microstructure of different lubricating greases by preserving the integrity of the samples as much as possible. In particular, since the AFM can work in various environments (vacuum, air and liquid), many researchers have been interested in imaging soft or biological samples [22,23]. Furthermore, recent advances in AFM have enabled highspeed imaging of soft samples allowing the direct visualization of biomolecules [24,25].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

AFM and SEM Assessment of Lubricating Grease Microstructures: Influence of Sample Preparation Protocol, Frictional Working Conditions and Composition

2016

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The microstructure of lubricating greases greatly conditions their in-service performance. In that sense, optimal testing protocols are required in order to accomplish their correct morphological characterization. This study explores and compares the suitability of Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) techniques for imaging six different commercial metallic soap-based greases and two novel biopolymer-based formulations. Pros and cons of both techniques as well as the effect of sample preparation protocol were analyzed. The results revealed a wide variety of morphological characteristics depending on composition. Thus, the four anhydrous calcium-based greases demonstrated two clearly distinct microstructures (fibrous and granular) determined by the type of base oil employed. With regard to the lithium complex greases, the typically reported microstructure characterized by welldefined entangled and fibrous network was observed in both AFM and SEM techniques.As for the two biopolymer-based greases, fiber networks were also encountered.Besides this, selected greases were subjected to different tribological tests, and the effect of high-shear frictional working treatments on their microstructure was also analyzed. As a result of the friction and internal wear, the AFM results evidenced microstructural changes which depended on grease composition. Overall, the combined use of AFM and SEM techniques was demonstrated to be a powerful approach to microstructurally characterize lubricating greases.

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“…[1][2][3] However, even in the less intrusive, "non-contact" tapping mode, the AFM cantilever oscillates at amplitudes above the sub-nanometer scale and causes its probe tip to continuously contact the sample, which disturbs soft biological samples. [4][5][6][7] While most SPM techniques were originally designed for imaging nanomaterials in vacuum or air conditions, the scanning ion conductance microscope (SICM), which was invented by Paul Hansma in 1989, 8 is unique because it was designed to probe soft biological systems. In order to do so, the SICM utilizes ion current as the signal in order to measure the topography of soft non-conducting samples.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alternative configuration scheme for signal amplification with scanning ion conductance microscopy

Kim

Cho

2015

Review of Scientific Instruments

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Scanning Ion Conductance Microscopy (SICM) is an emerging nanotechnology tool to investigate the morphology and charge transport properties of nanomaterials, including soft matter. SICM uses an electrolyte filled nanopipette as a scanning probe and detects current changes based on the distance between the nanopipette apex and the target sample in an electrolyte solution. In conventional SICM, the pipette sensor is excited by applying voltage as it raster scans near the surface. There have been attempts to improve upon raster scanning because it can induce collisions between the pipette sidewalls and target sample, especially for soft, dynamic materials (e.g., biological cells). Recently, Novak et al. demonstrated that hopping probe ion conductance microscopy (HPICM) with an adaptive scan method can improve the image quality obtained by SICM for such materials. However, HPICM is inherently slower than conventional raster scanning. In order to optimize both image quality and scanning speed, we report the development of an alternative configuration scheme for SICM signal amplification that is based on applying current to the nanopipette. This scheme overcomes traditional challenges associated with low bandwidth requirements of conventional SICM. Using our alternative scheme, we demonstrate successful imaging of L929 fibroblast cells and discuss the capabilities of this instrument configuration for future applications.

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Scanning ion conductance microscopy for imaging biological samples in liquid: A comparative study with atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy

Cited by 81 publications

References 49 publications

Consequences of membrane topography

Consequences of membrane topography

AFM and SEM Assessment of Lubricating Grease Microstructures: Influence of Sample Preparation Protocol, Frictional Working Conditions and Composition

Alternative configuration scheme for signal amplification with scanning ion conductance microscopy

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