Tapping-mode atomic force microscopy on intact cells: optimal adjustment of tapping conditions by using the deflection signal

Difficulties in the proper adjustment of the scanning parameters are often encountered when using tapping-mode atomic force microscopy (TMAFM) for imaging thick and soft material, and particularly living cells, in aqueous buffer. A simple procedure that drastically enhances the successfull imaging of the surface of intact cells by TMAFM is described. It is based on the observation, in liquid, of a deflection signal, concomitant with the damping of the amplitude that can be followed by amplitude–distance curves. For intact cells, the evolution of the deflection signal, steeper than the amplitude damping allows a precise adjustment of the feedback value. Besides its use in finding the appropriate tapping conditions, the deflection signal provides images of living cells that essentially reveal the organization of the membrane cytoskeleton. This allows to show that changes in the membrane surface topography are associated with a reorganization of the membrane skeleton. Studies on the relationships between the cell surface topography and membrane skeleton organization in living cells open a new field of applications for the atomic force microscope.