Title of article :
Atomic Force Microscopy on Biological Materials Related toPathological Conditions
Author/Authors :
Stylianou, Andreas CancerBiophysicsLaboratory - DepartmentofMechanicalandManufacturingEngineering - UniversityofCyprus - Nicosia , Cyprus , Kontomaris, Stylianos-Vasileios AthensMetropolitanCollege - Sorou - Marousi15125, Greece , Grant, Colin HitachiHigh-TechnologiesEurope- TechspaceOne - KeckwickLane - WarringtonWA44AB, UK , Alexandratou, Eleni BiomedicalOpticsandAppliedBiophysicsLaboratory,SchoolofElectricalandComputerEngineering - NationalTechnicalUniversityofAthens - IroonPolytechniou - Athens , Greece
Abstract :
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) isaneasy-to-use,powerful,high-resolutionmicroscopethat allowstheusertoimageanysurfaceandunderanyaqueouscondition.AFMhasbeenusedintheinvestigationofthestructuralandmechanicalpropertiesofawiderangeofbiologicalmattersincludingbiomolecules,biomaterials,cells,andtissues.Itprovidesthecapacitytoacquirehigh-resolutionimages of biosamplesatthenanoscaleandallowsatreadilycarryingoutmechanicalcharacterization. ThecapacityofAFMtoimageandinteractwithsurfaces,underphysiologicallyrelevantconditions,isofgreatimportanceforrealisticandaccuratemedicalandpharmaceuticalapplications. TheaimofthispaperistoreviewrecenttrendsoftheuseofAFMonbiologicalmaterialsrelatedtohealthandsickness.First,wepresent AFM componentsanditsdifferentimagingmodesandwecontinuewithcombinedimagingandcoupledAFMsystems. Then,wediscusstheuseofAFMtonanocharacterizecollagen,themajorfibrousproteinofthehumanbody,whichhasbeencorrelatedwithmanypathologicalconditions.Inthenextsection,AFMnanolevelsurfacecharacterizationasatooltodetectpossiblepathologicalconditionssuchasosteoarthritisandcancerispresented.Finally,wedemonstratetheuseof AFMfor studyingotherpathologicalconditions,suchasAlzheimer’sdiseaseandhumanimmunodeficiencyvirus (HIV), throughtheinvestigationofamyloidfibrilsandviruses,respectively. Consequently,AFMstandsoutastheidealresearchinstrumentforexploringthedetectionofpathologicalconditionsevenatveryearlystages,makingitveryattractiveintheareaofbio-andnanomedicine.
Keywords :
Atomic Force Microscopy , Biological Materials Related , Pathological Conditions , Atomicforcemicroscopy(AFM) , HIV
