Scanning tunneling microscopy of microtubules

Author

Hameroff, Stuart ; Simic-Krstic, Y. ; Koruga, Djuro ; Kelley, Murray ; Mccuskey, Rcbert ; Krasovich, Margaret ; Schneiker, Conrad

Author_Institution

Arizona Univ., Tucson, AZ, USA

fYear

1989

fDate

9-12 Nov 1989

Firstpage

1350

Abstract

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) was used to image neuronal microtubules, protein polymers which may be capable of information processing. Isolated microtubules fixed in 0.1% glutaraldehyde in reassembly buffer containing 0.8 M glycerol were imaged in air on a graphite substrate. STM probing showed structures approximately 25 nm in width, consisting of longitudinal filaments of about 4 nm width. These images match electron micrographs of microtubules and their component protofilaments

Keywords

biological techniques and instruments; cellular biophysics; neurophysiology; scanning tunnelling microscopy; 4 nm; electron micrographs; glutaraldehyde; glycerol; graphite substrate; information processing; longitudinal filaments; neuronal microtubules; protein polymers; protofilaments; reassembly buffer; Atomic force microscopy; Atomic layer deposition; Biomedical imaging; Electrons; Information processing; Optical buffering; Polymers; Proteins; Surface topography; Tunneling;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 1989. Images of the Twenty-First Century., Proceedings of the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in

Conference_Location

Seattle, WA

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IEMBS.1989.96233

Filename

96233