Kanazawa Workshop on Atomic Force Microscopy
15-18 January, 2007
Kanazawa New Grand Hotel, Kanazawa, Japan

Program
Day 1 Monday 15 January, 2007
16:00~17:00 Registration
17:00~19:00 Mixer
Day 2 Tuesday 16 January, 2007
9:00~9:10
Opening Remark
SESSION I (Chaired by Christian Le Grimellec)
Kunio Takeyasu (Invited)
9:10~9:50(Graduate School of Biostudies, Kyoto Univ., Japan)"Biological application of nano-scale imaging and single-molecule
manipulation techniques"
Suzanne Jarvis (Invited)
9:50~10:30(Trinity College Dublin, Ireland)"Using nano-mechanics to explore biological function"
10:30~10:50 BreakSESSION II (Chaired by Simon Schuring)
10:50~11:30 Paolo Facci (Invited)(S3-INFM-CNR, Physics Dep., Univ. of Modena, Italy)"Retrieving functional and conformational information from single proteins:
towards an AFM-based approach"
11:30~12:10 Peter Hinterdorfer (Invited)(Institute of Biophysics, Johannes Kepler Univ. Linz, Austria)"Molecular recognition force microscopy/spectroscopy "12:10~14:00 Lunch at French Restaurant “Roi” (12F)
SESSION III (Chaired by Sonia Antranz Contera)
14:00~14:40 Atsushi Ikai (Invited)(Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan)"Wedding of biochemistry and mechanics by force"
14:40~15:00 Masaru Kawakami(JAIST, Japan)"Novel force ramp AFM technique adopting single molecule events for
dynamic force spectroscopy "15:00~15:20 Masami Kageshima(Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka Univ., Japan)"Equilibrium and non-equilibrium processes and internal friction in
dynamics of single biopolymer"
15:20~15:40 BreakSESSION IV (Chaired by Suzanne Jarvis)
15:40~16:00 Masaki Tanemura(Nagoya Institute of Technology, Japan)"Small-scale batch fabrication and characterization of carbon nanofiber
probes"
16:00~16:40 Takeshi Fukuma (Invited)(Trinity College Dublin, Ireland)"Direct imaging of water/lipid interface by frequency modulation AFM at
sub-angstrom resolution"
16:40~17:00 Jason Cleveland(Asylum Research, USA)
"Dual frequency AFM"
17:00~17:15 Platinum Sponsor Lecture by Veeco Japan
Mayumi Misawa"The new Nanoscope V SPM controller"
17:15~17:30 Platinum Sponsor Lecture by Olympus
Akitoshi Toda
"Small cantilevers to penetrate the market"

2Day 3 Wednesday 17 January, 2007
SESSION V (Chaired by Sonia Antoranz Contera)
Toshio Ando (Invited)
9:00~9:40(Dep. of Physics, Kanazawa Univ., Japan)"Instrumentation of high-speed AFM and observation of protein dynamics"
Chia-Hsiang Menq (Invited)
9:40~10:20(Dep. of Mechanical Engineering, The Ohio State Univ., USA)"Control of tip position using co-located magnetic actuation for high-speed
AFM"
10:20~10:40 BreakSESSION VI (Chaired by Chia-Hsiang Menq)
10:40~11:20 Levent Degertekin (Invited)(Georgia Institute of Technology, USA)
"AFM probe structures with integrated interferometric sensing andelectrostatic actuation"
11:20~12:00 Hirofumi Yamada (Invited)(Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto Univ., Japan)"Subnanometer-resolution imaging in liquid by frequency modulation
atomic force microscopy"
12:00~14:00 Lunch at French Restaurant “Roi” (12F)
SESSION VII (Chaired by Kunio Takeyasu & Takayuki Uchihashi)
14:00~14:20 Noriyuki Kodera(Dep. of Physics, Kanazawa Univ., Japan)"Structural dynamics of acto-myosin V revealed by high-speed AFM"
14:20-14:40 Daisuke Yamamoto(Dep. of Physics, Kanazawa Univ., Japan)"Chaperonin GroELGroES action captured by high-speed AFM"
14:40~15:20 Christian Le Grimellec- (Invited)(Centre de Biochimie Structurale, Univ. of Montpellier I, France)"Alkaline phosphatase interactions with ordered membrane domains"
15:20~16:00 Simon Scheuring (Invited)(Institut Curie – Research, UMR-CNRS 168, France)"High-resolution AFM of the supramolecular assembly of membrane proteinsin native membranes"
16:00~16:20 Break
16:20~17:00 Sonia Antranz Contera (Invited)(Biotechnology IRC, Physics Dep., Univ. of Oxford, UK)"Relating structure, biomechanics and function of single membraneproteins"
17:00~17:40 Takayuki Uchihashi (Invited)(Dep. of Physics, Kanazawa University, Japan)"Improvements in the high-speed AFM and observation of membraneprotein dynamics"
17:40~17:55 Platinum Sponsor Lecture by RIBM, Co. Inc.)
Takashi Morii"New lineup of RIBM products: SXM-advanced, SXM-basic and high-speed
AFM NanoLiveVision"
18:30~21:00 Dinner Party at a Japanese Restaurant

3

Day 4 Thursday 18 January, 2007
SESSION VIII (Chaired by Peter Hinterdorfer)
Andrew E. Pelling (Invited)
9:00~9:40(Dep. of Medicine and the LCN, Univ. College London)"Mechanobiology: Non-imaging applications of AFM in cell biology”
Chikashi Nakamura (Invited)
9:40~10:20(AIST, Japan)"Cell surgery: A novel living cell manipulation technology using nanoneedle
and AFM"
10:20~10:40 Takaharu Okajima(Nanotechnology Research Center, Hokkaido Univ., Japan)"Viscoelastic properties of living cells investigated by time-domain AFM
analysis"
10:40~11:00 Break
11:00~12:00 Business Meeting for Discussion of International Collaboration(Kanazawa University and Foreign Scientists)
12:00~17:00 Lunch & Excursion
Excursion Schedule
13:00

Bus leaves the Kanazawa New Grand Hotel

13:30

Ando’s Lab (demonstration of high-speed AFM)

14:30

Bus leaves the Kanazawa University

15:00

Walking around the Kenroku Park and Kanazawa Castle

16:00“Yuzen” Kimono painting at the Traditional Industry Hall

17:30

Bus arrives at the Kanazawa Railway Station

18:00

Arriving at the Kanazawa New Grand Hotel

4

Preface5Day 2 Tuesday 16 January

SESSION I

BIOLOGICAL APPLICATION OF NANO-SCALE IMAGING AND
SINGLE-MOLECULE MANIPURATION TECHNIQUES
Kunio Takeyasu, Masatoshi Yokokawa, Hirohide Takahashi, Yasuhiro Hirano, R.L.
Ohniwa, Kohji Hizume and Shige H. Yoshimura
Graduate School of Biostudies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan*Corresponding author: takeyasu@lif.kyoto-u.ac.jp (Tel: +81 75 753 7905)
We have been using atomic force microscopy (AFM) for studying the structuralorganization and dynamics of various biological macromolecules and assemblies [1-5].
Here we shall summarize our most recent results using AFM.
The topics include: (1) Similarities and differences between the eukaryotic andprokaryotic genome organizations in cells. (2) Importance of the topology controls of
DNA in architecturing the higher-order structures. (3) Application of fast-scanning
AFM to the analyses of enzyme reaction. (4) Development of a novel method for asite-specific attachment of any glutathione S-transferase (GST)-fused proteins to the
cantilever in a desired direction, which allows the applications to the measurement ofinteraction between chromatin and inner nuclear membrane proteins such as the lamin B
receptor (LBR). (5) Successful application of the PicoTrecTM mode that cansimultaneously obtain a topographic image together with a recognition signal by using
protein- (antibody-) coupled cantilever (recognition imaging). Using the PicoTrecTM
mode combined with our GSH- and antibody-cantilevers, we could detect specificinteractions between LBR and chromatin, and between DNA and nuclear matrix
proteins such as SP120.
[References]
1. J. Kim, S.H. Yoshimura, K. Hizume, R.L. Ohniwa, A. Ishihama & K. Takeyasu(2004) A fundamental structural unit of the Escherichia coli nucleoid revealed byatomic force microscopy. Nucleic Acid Res., 32: 1982-1992.
2. K. Hizume, S.H. Yoshimura & K. Takeyasu (2005) Linker histone H1 per se can
induce three-dimensional folding of chromatin fiber. Biochemistry, 44:12978-12989.
3. S.H. Yoshimura, H. Takahashi, S. Ohtsuka & K. Takeysu (2006) Development ofglutathione-coupled cantilever for the single-molecule force measurement by
scanning force microscopy. FEBS Lett., 580: 3961-3965.
4. M. Yokokawa, C. Wada, T. Ando, N. Sakai, A. Yagi & K. Takeyasu (2006)
Single-molecule reaction analysis reveals the ATP-ADP-dependent conformationalchanges of chaperonin GroEL. EMBO J., 25: 4567-4576.
5. R.L. Ohniwa, K. Morikawa, J. Kim, T. Ohta, A. Ishihama, C. Wada & K. Takeyasu(2006) Dynamic state of DNA topology is essential for genome condensation in
baceteria. EMBO J., 25: 1-13.

6

Day 2 Tuesday 16 January

SESSION I

Using nano-mechanics to explore biological function
Suzanne P. Jarvis
Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices, Trinity College
Dublin, Lincoln Place Gate, Dublin 2, Ireland.
E-mail: suzi.jarvis@tcd.ie
Website: http://www.nanofunction.org
Using a range of atomic force microscope techniques we have exploredbiological function across a broad range of systems and length scales. To this end wehave utilized imaging, force-extension curves, indentation, and in some cases, AFM
combined with fluorescence microscopy. Our measurements have included model
systems investigated at the submolecular level, for example, to understand interactions
between hydrophilic residues and their aqueous environment. We have also explored
more complex systems in vitro and in vivo where mechanical responses have helped us
to explain the beneficial mechanical properties of physiological amyloid fibrils. The
most complex systems we have studied to date involve measurements at the single celllevel, where we have used AFM both to measure and also to mechanically stimulate
single cells. We have focused on cell types where mechanics is believed to beparticularly important including mesenchymal stem cells where mechanical stimulus isthought to be important for differentiation, and cells of the lamina cribrosa, one of theregions in the intraocular portion of the optic nerve chronically exposed to amechanically dynamic environment.
I will give a brief overview of the methods used and the systems studied so far,highlighting in particular our work on more complex biological systems.
This work was performed in collaboration with Prof. P. Prendergast andcolleagues at the Centre for Bioengineering, Trinity College Dublin and the group of
Prof. C. O’Brien, Mater Hospital, Dublin.

7

Day 2 Tuesday 16 January

SESSION II

Retrieving functional and conformational information from single
proteins: towards an AFM-based approach
Paolo Facci
National Research Center “nanoStructures and bioSystems at Surfaces-S3” of
CNR-INFM, Via G. Campi 213/A, I-41100 Modena, Italy.
E-mail: p.facci@unimo.it
Large classes of different proteins (e.g. redox metalloproteins, ion channels) whosefunctional tasks are fundamental in life-sustaining processes, function by eliciting acurrent flow (ions, electrons) through them. Due to the intimate connection between
structure and function in proteins, understanding their correlation appears of paramountimportance. Scanning probe techniques are believed to bear the potentialities forinvestigating the functional behavior of particular biomolecules [1,2] at the level of thesingle molecule while retrieving, simultaneously, conformational information. However,
due to the particular imaging environment, the accomplishment of this task is not trivial
and requires special solutions and experimental set-up.
In this talk I will present the results of our research efforts towards the aforementioned
goal [3,4], outlining the chosen technical solutions and the open issues that still prevent
us from implementing an AFM which can measure, at the same time, topography andcurrent in water-based environments, and with molecular resolution.
References
1. A. Alessandrini, P. Facci “AFM: a versatile tool in biophysics” Meas. Sci. Technol.
16, R65 (2005).
2. A. Alessandrini, S. Corni, P. Facci “Unraveling single metalloprotein electron transfer
by scanning probe techniques” Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 8, 4383 (2006).
3. A. Alessandrini, M. Salerno, S. Frabboni, P. Facci “Single-metalloprotein wet
biotransistor” Appl. Phys. Lett., 86, 133902 (2005).
4. C. Menozzi, A. Alessandrini, G. Gazzadi, P. Facci “Focused Ion Beam-nanomachinedprobes for improved Electric Force Microscopy” Ultramicroscopy, 104, 220 (2005).

8

Day 2 Tuesday 16 January

SESSION II

Molecular Recognition Force Microscopy/SpectroscopyPeter Hinterdorfer
Institute for Biophysics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Altenbergerstr. 69, A-4040
Linz, Austria
E-mail: peter.hinterdorfer@jku.at
In molecular recognition force microscopy (MRFM), ligands are covalently attached toatomic force microscopy tips for the molecular recognition of their cognitive receptors
on probe surfaces. Using an appropriate tip surface chemistry protocol with 6-nm longheterobifunctional crosslinkers as key elements, the ligand density on the AFM tip issufficiently dilute for allowing single molecule studies. Our crosslinker librarypossesses many different chemical endgroups for various functional coupling strategies.
Interaction forces between single receptor-ligand pairs are measured in force-distancecycles. A ligand-containing tip is approached towards the receptors on the probe surface,which possibly leads to formation of a receptor-ligand bond. The tip is subsequently
retracted until the bond breaks at a certain force (unbinding force). In force
spectroscopy (FS), the dynamics of the experiment is varied, which, in case of a single
sharp activation barrier, reveals a logarithmic dependence of the unbinding force on theforce velocity. From this curve the barrier height and width can be deduced, as shownon virus/cell receptor interactions. A more complex energy landscape dominates theinteraction of the nuclear import receptor importin  with the small GTPase Ran. The
complex switches between two distinct conformational states of different binding
strength. Our results support a model whereby functional control of Ran-importin isachieved by a population shift between pre-existing alternative conformation.
In another study it was shown that single molecule force measurements between
single-stranded DNA containing multiple methylcytosines and an anti-methylcytosine
antibody can survey the distances between methylcytosines with single nucleotide
resolution. Two step unbinding events in force curves corresponded to sequential
dissociation of two Fab-domains of one antibody from a single DNA molecule, with adistance in excellent agreement with the contour length of nucleotides in between two
methylcytosines. Using different DNA sequences, the applicability for methylcytosine
sequencing and the detection of single nucleotide polymorphism at the single molecule
level was demonstrated.
Finally, a method for the localization specific binding sites and epitopes with nm
positional accuracy by combining dynamic force microscopy with single molecule
recognition force spectroscopy is presented. A magnetically driven AFM tip containing
a ligand covalently bound via a tether molecule was oscillated at 5 nm amplitude while
scanning along the surface. Since the tether had a length of 6 nm, the ligand on the tip
was always kept in close proximity to the surface and showed a high probabilty ofbinding when a receptor site was passed. Topography and recognition images wereobtained simultaneously using a specially designed electronic circuit. Maxima (Uup) andminima (Udown) of each sinusoidal cantilever deflection period were depicted, with
Udown driving the feedback loop to record a height (topography) image and Uup
providing the data for the recognition image. In this way, topography and recognition
image were gained simultaneously and independently with nm lateral resolution. Thismethod is capable of localizing distinct histones in chromation preparations and canvisualize nm-sized receptor domains on cell surfaces.

9Day 2 Tuesday 16 January

SESSION III

Wedding of Biochemistry and Mechanics by Force
Atsushi Ikai, Rehana Afrin, Hironori Uehara, Taichi Tamanaka
Hiroshi Sekiguchi and Toshiya Osada
Laboratory of Biodynamics
Graduate School of Bioscience and Biotechnology
Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259 Nagatsuta, Midori-ku,
Yokohama 226-8501, Japan
TEL: +81 45-924-5828 FAX: +81 45-924-5806
ikai.a.aa@m.titech.ac.jp
Traditionally, chemistry and mechanics have been treated as two separate
disciplines, one concentrating on the conversion of molecules from one form to anotherand the other focusing on the deformation of macroscopic materials under compressiveor tensile stresses. However, the advent of nanotechnologies has meant that we are now
able to compress or stretch individual molecules and measure their mechanicalresponse; closing the traditional gap between the two disciplines. DNA has been shown
by Bustamante and his colleagues to be stretched beyond the contour length of thestandard B-form resulting in the new S-form that is stable only under a tensile stress ofabout 80 pN [1]. Protein molecules are also unfolded under an applied tensile force; so
exposing the hitherto unknown mechanics of intramolecular segmental interactions[2,3,4,5]. By compressing single protein molecules, one can obtain Young’s modulus ofglobular proteins under native and denaturing conditions [6]. A single synthetic polymer
chain has been extended from its two ends allowing researchers to compare theexperimental stretch curve with various theoretical models of polymer extension [7]. We
have been applying the most sophisticated single molecule manipulation technology
available to the development of surgical techniques in single living cells by inserting
plasmid DNA into or extracting mRNA out of a live cell [8]. We are also pulling
membrane proteins to probe their interaction with intracellular structures such as thecytoskeleton [9]. I will give an overview of the new technology being developed in ourlaboratory for the single molecule and single cell manipulation and its application tobio-medical fields.
1. Smith, S.B., et al., Science. 271 795-799 (1996).
2. Mitsui, K., et al., FEBS Letters, 385 29-33 (1996).
3. Rief, M., et al., Science. 276 1109-1112 (1997).
4. Alam, M.T, et al., FEBS Letters. 519 35-40 (2002).
5. Hertadi, R., et al., J Mol Biol. 333 993-1002 (2003).
6. Afrin, R., et al., Protein Science 14 1447-1457 (2005).
7. Titantah, J.T., et al., J. Chem. Phys. 117 9028-9036 (2002).
8. Uehara, H., et al., Ultramicroscopy 100 197-201 (2004).
9. Afrin, R., et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 348 238-244 (2006).

10

Day 2 Tuesday 16 January

SESSION III

Novel force ramp AFM technique adopting single molecule events for
dynamic force spectroscopy
1,2
12

Masaru Kawakami and 2Alastair Smith

School of Materials Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds
E-mail: kmasaru@jaist.ac.jp

Recently developed techniques such as atomic force microscopy (AFM), thebiomembrane force probe (BFP) and optic/magnetic tweezers have allowed us tomanipulate biomolecules at the single molecule level and have provided a wealth of
information about their mechanical property. In addition, single molecule experimentswith these techniques have enabled us to study the energy landscapes of conformationalchange or unbinding of biomolecules. It is called dynamic force spectroscopy, where theforce loading rate is altered and the loading rate dependence of the force at which thereactions occur is investigated. In general, the force loading rate is altered by changing
the constant retraction velocity of the scanner (piezo) or the optic/magnetic beads.
However, biomolecules have a non-linear elasticity against force, giving non-linearchanges of force as a function of time, while the force loading rate is usually determinedby assuming that the biomolecule under study has a constant elasticity.
Recently, a real force ramp technique has been developed by the introduction ofan analogue PID feedback circuit allowing the kinetic parameters (x, k0) of theunfolding reaction of ubiquitin and titin to be calculated [1,2]. In the force ramp
experiment, homopolymers of proteins are chosen and stretched. However, with thesemolecules the multiple unfolding events occur sequentially during the force ramp,
which is not taken into account and the force ramp is executed “abruptly”. Consequently
the values of the kinetic parameters given with this technique were much smaller thanthose from the constant velocity experiments.
In this study, a novel force ramp technique capable of executing a true force
ramp which takes multiple unfolding events into account has been developed. This isenabled by using a software controlled PID feedback that monitors protein unfolding
events during the force ramp. In the talk details of this technique will be presented.
Using this technique we obtained the parameters which are almost identical to thosedetermined by the conventional loading velocity experiments, indicating the validity ofthis technique and importance of consideration of the multiple unfolding events during
the force ramp.
[1] M. Schlierf, H. Li and J. M. Fernandez, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2004, 101, 7299.
[2] M. Wang, Y. Cao and H. Li, Polymer 2006, 47, 2548.

11

Day 2 Tuesday 16 January

SESSION III

Equilibrium and non-equilibrium processes and internal friction in
dynamics of single biopolymer
Masami Kageshima1,2, Yoshimasa Nishihara1, Yoshiki Hirata3, Takahito Inoue3
Sumiko Kimura4, Yoshitaka Naitoh1 and Yasuhiro Sugawara1
1

Deptartment of Applied Physics, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
2
JST-PRESTO, Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan
3
National Inst. of Adv. Industrial Sci. and Technol., Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8568, Japan
4
Department of Biology, Chiba University, Chiba 263-8522, Japan
E-mail: kage@ap.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp
Folding/unfolding dynamics of single biopolymer occupies essential part of biological
functions. Even more macroscopic biological phenomenon like molecule-membraneinteraction or cell adhesion also can be attributed to this kind of microscopic dynamics.
It is well known that thermodynamical or equilibrium processes classified into
enthalpic and entropic responses contribute macroscopic elasticity of the single
molecule. On the other hand, mechanical response of the molecule also includes various
types of non-equilibrium processes like relaxation or denaturing due to external forces.
While the classical thermodynamics can only deal with a phenomenon simply as adifference between two equilibrium states, non-equilibrium approaches may provide
detailed understanding of the transition itself. A key to the dynamic process is energy
dissipation or internal friction. In the present study, force spectroscopy techniquebased on atomic force microscopy (AFM) is intensified by introducing the idea ofviscoelasticity measurement. An AFM cantilever is magnetically excited at a particularfrequency well below its resonance and the resultant responses in its amplitude andphase are analyzed to extract elastic and viscous properties of the molecule during thecourse of its forced unfolding. As a model system for the present study, a titin (orconnectin) single molecule, which exists in each sarcomere in muscle was chosen. It
has a characteristic modular structure of immunoglobulin (Ig) and fibronectin-3 (Fn3)domains. While the stiffness during unfolding of each domain proved to approximate aderivative of the DC force profile relatively well, it did not reflect the characteristictransition to an unfolding intermediate that was observed in the DC force. This meansthat the transition can be, at least in the time-scale of the present modulation frequency,
can be regarded as a non-equilibrium
process. In addition, a particulardomain was observed to exhibit acharacteristic slow unfolding process
in contrast to the others that were
mostly denatured in ca. 10 msec. or
faster. The process had 2 stages ofrelaxationprior
toordinary
random-coil-like extension profile,and in the latter of the two a peaking
in the drag coefficient was observed
as shown in Fig. 1. This
characteristic viscosity is discussed
from a viewpoint of internal friction
in a polymer chain.

12Day 2 Tuesday 16 January

SESSION IV

Small-Scale Batch Fabrication and Characterization of Carbon
Nanofiber Probes
M.Tanemura1, M. Kitazawa1, 2, J.Tanaka1, Y. Sugita1 and R.Ohta2
1

Department of Environmental Technology, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya
Institute of Technology, Gokiso-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan
2
Olympus Co. Ltd., 6666 Inatomi, Tatsuno, Kami-Ina-Gun, Nagano 399-0495, Japan
E-mail: tanemura.masaki@nitech.ac.jp

Due to their high aspect ratios, nanoscale tip radii, high chemical stability and highmechanical strength, carbon nanotubes (CNTs [1]) and carbon nanofibers (CNFs) arethought to be an ideal probe for scanning probe microscopes (SPMs). Thus, much effort
has been devoted to fabricate CNT- or CNF-based SPM probes since the discovery of
CNTs [2]. Nevertheless, the batch fabrication of CNT- or CNF-tipped probes is stillquite challenging because of several unsolved difficulties in conventional fabrication
methods, such as the manual attachment of single CNTs or chemical vapor deposition
growth of CNTs onto SPM chips.
Here we challenged the batch-growth of linear-shaped single CNFs onto
commercially available Si cantilevers (3 – 9 chips / batch) using a newly developed
Ar+-ion-irradiation method [3]. In the present work, the growth parameters were
optimized and the electric properties of ion-induced CNF probes were revealed.
Single CNFs pointing in the Ar+-ion-beam direction grew on the tips of arrayedchips (Fig. 1). CNFs increased in length with an increase in the growth time, and thediscrepancy in length was estimated to be typically +/- 10 % in an array of 9 SPM chips
grown under the optimized condition. CNFs
grown at room temperature, for instance,reached about 1 um in length for the 10
min-growth.
In the I-V measurements,
commercial-type Si probes (without CNF)
showedatypicalsemiconductive
characteristic. By contrast, Si probes with
ion-induced CNFs (CNF probes) displayed ametallic characteristic with a highsignal-to-noise ratio in the I-V curves andpossessed a high AFM resolution. Thus, it
wasbelieved
thatbatch-fabricated Fig. 1 SEM image of a typical CNF probe
ion-induced CNFs were quite promising as taken after repeated AFM measurements.
practical SPM probes.

[1] S. Iijima: Nature 354 (1991) 56.
[2] Bharat Bhushan (ed), Springer Handbook of Nanotechnology (Springer-Verlag,
Berlin, 2003) Chapt. 21.
[3] M. Tanemura, et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., 84 (2004). 3831, 86 (2005) 113107 and Jpn. J.
Appl. Phys. 45 (2006) 2004.

13

Day 2 Tuesday 16 January

SESSION IV

Direct Imaging of Water/Lipid Interface by Frequency Modulation
Atomic Force Microscopy at Sub-Angstrom Resolution
Takeshi Fukuma, Michael J. Higgins, Suzanne P. Jarvis
Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices, Trinity College
Dublin, Lincoln Place Gate, Dublin 2, IrelandE-mail: takeshi.fukuma@tcd.ie
Frequency modulation atomic force microscopy (FM-AFM) has been used in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) environments for investigating subnanometer-scale structures andfunctions of various surfaces. Until recently, however, its operating environment had
been limited only to UHV, which has prevented its practical applications in air andliquids. Recently, Fukuma et al. presented a way to overcome this limitation using an
ultra low noise cantilever deflection detection system and thereby operating FM-AFM
with extremely small cantilever oscillation amplitude [1]. This has made it possible toobtain true molecular [2] and atomic [3] resolution with FM-AFM in liquid. One of themost interesting applications of this new technique is high-resolution imaging of
biological systems under physiological conditions. However, true subnanometer
resolution with FM-AFM in liquid has not been demonstrated on biological systems.
Biological membranes are amongst the most fundamental elements in biologicalsystems. They form the walls of cells and boundaries between the organelles thereinwith a selectively permeable structure. The structure and function of the membranes are
determined by the chemical interactions between the constituent molecules mediatedthrough water and ions in physiological solution. Thus, understanding of theinteractions between lipid molecules (main constituents of biological membranes) andwater or ions are of great importance. To date, various spectroscopic methods have beenutilized for investigating water/lipid interface. However, these methods provide only
global information averaged over micrometer-scale area and hence molecular-scaledetails of water-lipid and ion-lipid interactions have mostly remained unknown.
Here we investigate a dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) lipid bilayer inphosphate buffer solution as a model biological membrane under physiologicalconditions by FM-AFM [4]. The force vs. distance curves measured between thebilayer and the AFM tip show oscillatory force profiles with a peak spacing of 0.28 nm,
indicative of the existence of up to two hydration layers next to the membrane surface.
FM-AFM imaging at the water/lipid interface visualizes individual hydration layers inthree-dimensions with molecular-scale corrugations corresponding to the lipid
headgroups. Furthermore, we visualize extensive lipid-ion interaction networks andtheir transient formation between headgroups in the bilayer. The spatial distribution of
ion occupancy, visualized in real-space with the unprecedented lateral resolution of 90
pm, reveals the existence of two equivalent binding sites associated with the phosphategroups and the network formation between them.
[1] T. Fukuma, M. Kimura, K. Kobayashi, K. Matsushige, H. Yamada, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 76, 053704(2005).
[2] T. Fukuma, K. Kobayashi, K. Matsushige, H. Yamada, Appl. Phys. Lett. 86, 193108 (2005).
[3] T. Fukuma, K. Kobayashi, K. Matsushige, H. Yamada, Appl. Phys. Lett. 87, 034101 (2005).
[4] T. Fukuma, S. P. Jarvis, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 77, 043701 (2006).

14

Day 2 Tuesday 16 January

SESSION IV

Dual Frequency AFM
Jason Cleveland
Asylum Research, 341 Bolley Drive, Santa Barbara, CA 93117, USA
E-mail: jason@AsylumResearch.com
Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) uses a number of different scanning modes tocharacterize surface topography and other characteristics. We will present a new SPM
imaging mode that goes beyond traditional phase image in measuring mechanical andchemical properties. In this new imaging mode, Dual AC™, a cantilever is driven at ornear two of its flexural eigenmodes. For most cantilevers, these eigenmodes are
non-harmonic. The 2nd eigenmode amplitude and phase show strikingly different
contrast from the same fundamental eigenmode signals. As in traditional AC imaging,the cantilever and imaging parameters can be chosen such that the tip-sample
interactions are either attractive or repulsive. In general, if the cantilever is maintainedin the attractive state, the 2nd eigenmode is sensitive to long ranged forces and if thecantilevers is maintained in the repulsive state, the 2nd eigenmode is sensitive tomechanical properties of the sample. Data on Magnetic and Electric Force Microscopy(MFM and EFM) samples, collagen fibers, and λ-digest DNA be shown to support this.

15

Day 2 Tuesday 16 January

SESSION IV

The New NanoScope V SPM Controller
Mayumi Misawa
Nihon Veeco K.K., 5-6-10 Tsukiji Chuou-ku Tokyo 104-0045
E-mail: mayumi-m@veeco.co.jp
Fast, Dependable Data Capture: The new NanoScope® V
controller utilizes advanced electronics, including A/D and D/Aconverters operating at 50MHz, to deliver reliable, high-speed
data capture. This state-of-the-art fifth-generation controller
allows measurement of tip-sample/cantilever dynamics, enabling
researchers to study the influence of mechanical properties on thephysics of probe-sample interactions at timescales previously inaccessible to SPM users.
It also allows calibration of the cantilever spring constant at resonant frequencies up to
2MHz. High-speed data capture is simultaneous with imaging or ramping andindependent of microscope mode.
Flexible Controller Features: The NanoScope V enables up to eight images to be
simultaneously displayed in real-time (and captured for analysis) with unprecedented
signal-to-noise ratio. The controller incorporates three independent lock-in amplifiers
and provides thermal tune measurements of cantilever resonance up to 2MHz. It also
affords easy access to most input and output signals through front-panel BNCs. Input ofdata into the controller from an external source (e.g., photomultiplier tube) is supported,
as is user access to lock-in amplifiers and to signals to/from a microscope (e.g., XYZ
sensors, amplitude, phase).
Highest Pixel Density: The ability to acquire up to 5120 x 5120-pixel images eliminates
the need to capture several images at lower pixel densities as well as the requirement foroffset adjustments to correlate information from multiple images. The high pixel density
saves time when searching for low-density features distributed over large areas andallows observation of large structures and small features in the same image.
Outstanding Software Functionality: Veeco’s NanoScriptTM open-architecture option
provides a growing list of functions to control the SPM for custom experiments andnanoscale research (e.g., nanomanipulation in X, Y, Z; automated scanning;
nanolithography with different tip-sample interactions). These functions can also becalled from any programming language that can act as a client of Microsoft’s
Component Object Model (COM), including LabVIEWTM, MATLAB®, Visual Basic,
Ruby, Python, C++/MFC, Excel®, and Word®.
Easy-AFM, Remarkable Simplicity: For the ultimate in streamlined operational
simplicity, Veeco’s Easy-AFMTM, offers an intuitive, easy-to-follow graphic userinterface for new or infrequent SPM users. It reduces the time for initial setup by
engaging the sample with the probe (in air), automatically adjusting the scanningparameters, and obtaining high-quality TappingModeTM images on most samples at apush of a button. Easy-AFM is ideal for multi-user environments.

16

Day 2 Tuesday 16 January

SESSION IV

Small cantilevers to penetrate the market
Akitoshi TODAOLYMPUS Corp.

2-3 Kuboyama-cho, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 192-8512, Japan
E-mail: probe@olympus.co.jp

For a decade, a small cantilever has been believed as a foregone conclusion forscanning probe microscopy in biophysics field. However, it seems to be still in theprocess, at least in business. What has made us hesitate to getting on board a train?
A small cantilever sized in around 10 micron long and 2 micron wide has beenused in the research of high speed AFM.(1),(2) But it is not compatible forcommercially available AFMs. Therefore, many of researchers had less chance to use
such an extremely small cantilevers. We assumed that a medium small size cantileverwhich is smaller than conventional cantilevers while being compatible withconventional AFM optical sensors would open the door of small world express.
‘Bio-Lever mini’, or BL-AC40TS-C2, has been introduced recently into the market,
based on the assumption.(3) The cantilever sized in around 40 micron long and 15
micron wide shows a resonant frequency of 110 kHz in air and of 25 kHz in water while
its spring constant of 0.1 N/m. It is higher than the resonant frequencies of the XY-Z
scanner, the users can study at a maximum the effectiveness of the medium smallcantilever with their AFMs. We believe that their experience must motivate to learn
more about small cantilevers and that small, or perhaps smaller cantilevers penetrate themarket in the near future.

Fig.1 SEM micrograph of
BioLever mini.
Lever sized in 37(L)x16(W)micrometers, has a tetrahedralsilicon tipe near the free end.

Fig.2 Thermal vibration spectrum in water of
BioLever mini. The resonant peak is at 25 kHz.

[1] M.B.Viani et al. Nat.Struct. Biol. 7 (2000) 644[2] T.Ando et al. PNAS 98 (2001) 12468[3] A.Toda et al. JJAP 43, 7B (2004) 4671

17

Day 3 Wednesday 17 January

SESSION V

Instrumentation of the High-speed AFM andObservation of Protein Dynamics
Toshio Ando
Dep. of Physics, Kanazawa University, Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa 920-1192, Japan
CREST/JST, Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan
E-mail:tando@kenroku.kanazawa-u.ac.jp
WWW: http://www.s.kanazawa-u.ac.jp/phys/biophys/index.htm
X-ray crystallography and NMR have been successful in determining the protein 3D
structure at atomic level. However, the obtainable structure is a static one averaged overmany molecules and hence cannot reveal how protein molecules behave dynamicallywhen they are functioning in solution. Currently-prospering single molecule analysis byfluorescence microscopy can detect dynamic behavior of protein at work but the spatial
resolution is not high enough to visualize protein structure. Atomic force microscopy(AFM) does not possess spatial resolution as high as x-ray crystallography and NMR
but very unique in its ability to visualize individual protein molecules in solution at(sub) nanometer resolution. However, its imaging rate is too low to capture dynamicallymoving molecules because of the slow scan speed due to the slow mechanical responseof the cantilever and scanner. In addition, the tip-sample interaction force is large, which
disturbs weak protein-protein interaction and sometimes leads to destruction of protein.
In order to afford AFM an ability to trace moving protein molecules without disturbing
their physiological function, we have been developing various devices over the past
decade; for example, small cantilevers1 with a high resonance frequency (0.6-1.2 MHz
in water) and a small spring constant (~0.2 N/m), an optical deflection detection
system1,2 compatible with small cantilevers, a high-speed scanner3 that does not vibrate
when operated in z-direction at 150 kHz, a dynamic PID controller4 that does not lower
the feedback bandwidth even with the amplitude set point very close to the cantilever’s
free oscillation amplitude, a high-speed phase detector5 that allows simultaneous
capturing of topography and phase-contrast images. By these devises, it has recently
become possible to image at (near) video rate, without disturbing protein’s
physiological functions6,7. For example, hand-over-hand movement of myosin V along
actin filaments is clearly imaged. The negatively cooperative binding events between
Gro-ES and the two rings of GroEL are successfully captured. These demonstrate thathigh-speed AFM is truly useful for studying protein’s dynamic action and will surely
open a new way of elucidating the mechanisms of protein functions.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

T. Ando, N. Kodera, E. Takai, D. Maruyama, K. Saito and A. Toda, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
98: 12468-12472 (2001).
T. Ando, N. Kodera, E. Takai, D. Maruyama, K. Saito and A. Toda, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys.41:
4851-4856 (2002).
N. Kodera, H. Yamashita and T. Ando, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 76: 053708 (5pages) (2005).
N. Kodera, M. Sakashita, and T. Ando, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 77(8): 083704 (7 pages) (2006).
T. Uchihashi, H. Yamashita, and T. Ando, Appl. Phys. Lett. 89: 213112 (2006).
T. Ando, T. Uchihashi, N. Kodera, A. Miyagi, R. Nakakita, H. Yamashita, and M. Sakashita,
Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 45(3B): 1897-1903 (2006).
T. Ando, T. Uchihashi, N. Kodera, A. Miyagi, R. Nakakita, H. Yamashita, & K. Matada, e-J.
Surf. Sci. Nanotech. 3: 384-392 (2005).

18

Day 3 Wednesday 17 January

SESSION V

Control of tip position using co-located magnetic actuation
for high-speed AFM
Chia-Hsiang Menq, Younkoo Jeong and G. R. Jayanth
Department of Mechanical Engineering. The Ohio State University
201 West 19th Avenue, Columbus, OH, 43210
E-mail: menq.1@osu.edu
AFM imaging utilizes a sensitive feedback mechanism to achieve a specificcontrol objective by adjusting the tip-to-sample distance through z-motion control. For
example, the control objective of contact mode AFM is to maintain a constant deflectionof the cantilever while the oscillation amplitude or frequency is regulated in usual
dynamic mode AFM. Recently, direct control of tip-sample interaction force was also
proposed. In AFM imaging, as a sample is scanned at higher speed, topographic details
present themselves to the z-control loop as disturbances at higher frequencies. Therefore,
the bandwidth of the z-control loop is one of the key factors that limit imaging rate. The
z-control loop in dynamic mode AFM involves various dynamic processes, including
z-scanner dynamics, cantilever dynamics, and tapping dynamics. Over the past 15 years,
smaller AFM cantilevers as well as smaller piezoelectric actuators, in conjunction withactive Q-control, have been proposed, and significant improvements for high-speed
AFM have been made.
In this presentation, a co-located scheme for z-motion control is proposed, inwhich a magnetic actuator is introduced to work together with the regular z-scanner in adual-control loop scheme aiming to directly control the tip position and hence thetip-to-sample distance. The magnetic actuator overcomes the bandwidth limitations of
the z-scanner and does not introduce undesirable under-damped dynamics. Moreover,since the magnetic force is applied directly at the location where the motion being
controlled, it is much easier and reliable to use a model cancellation method tocompensate the dynamics of the cantilever and to elevate the speed of the tip-position
control. This additional magnetic actuator serves to make the entire cantileverbandwidth available for tracking topographic variations at specified tip-sample
interaction force. In high speed imaging, it will pick up high spatial-frequency surface
topography and regulate the tip-sample interaction force while the regular z-scanner
provides the necessary motion range.
A fast programmable electronics board (Field Programmable Gate Array) was
employed to implement the proposed dual-control-loop scheme, in which model
cancellation algorithms were realized to enhance the bandwidth of the magnetic coil andto replace the lightly damped dynamics of the cantilever with an over-damped system. It
allows the cantilever to position the tip very rapidly without introducing unwanted
transient dynamics. Experimental results will be presented to illustrate the effectivenessof the propose method. For tip-position control, it is shown that while an ordinary
cantilever is excited by the magnetic actuator to oscillate around its resonance frequency(34.8 kHz), the same actuator is actively controlled to move up the mean position of thetip by 20nm within one cycle. Other preliminary results and potential issues in relation
to high-speed AFM imaging and direct tip-sample interaction force control will also be
discussed.

19

Day 3 Wednesday 17 January

SESSION VI

AFM probe structures with integrated interferometric sensing andelectrostatic actuation
F. Levent Degertekin, A. Guclu Onaran, Hamdi Torun, Mujdat Balantekin, Krishna
Sarangapani, and Cheng Zhu
Georgia Institute of Technology
G.W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
801 Ferst Dr. NW, Atlanta, GA 30332, U.S.A.
E-mail: levent@gatech.edu
In this talk, we summarize our efforts in development of novel AFM probes andactuators based on extended use of micromachining techniques with a focus on
applications in liquid media. The first type of device uses a surface micromachined
membrane structure as force sensor which is directly actuated using the built-in
electrostatic actuator [1]. This enables fast actuation of the probe tip limited only by themembrane dynamics. The motion of the tip is measured with high sensitivity using an
integrated optical interferometer. Membrane structures suitable for in-liquid operation
are fabricated on transparent substrates made of quartz or glass. A reflective metal
grating is formed on the surface which also serves as one of the actuator electrodes. The
membrane is made of dielectric layers, a silicon nitride - silicon oxide stack, or apolymer such as parylene over a sealed gap. The top metal actuator electrode – opticalreflector layer is buried in this dielectric layer for electrical isolation in conductive
liquids such as buffer solutions. To illustrate application of these probes in single
molecule mechanics experiments, they were used to measure unbinding forces between
L-selectin reconstituted in a polymer-cushioned lipid bilayer on the membrane and an
antibody adsorbed on an AFM cantilever. Piconewton range forces between single pairsof interacting molecules were measured from the cantilever bending while using themembrane as an actuator. The integrated diffraction-based optical interferometer of theprobe was demonstrated to have <10 fm/√Hz noise floor for frequencies as low as 3 Hz
with a differential readout scheme. With softer membranes, this low noise level would
be suitable for direct force measurements without the need for a cantilever. Furthermore,
the probe membranes were shown to have 0.5 µm actuation range, with a flat response
up to 100 kHz enabling measurements at high speeds [2]. We also describe a second
type of device, the acoustic radiation force (ARP) actuator, for fast imaging in liquids.
The ARP actuator uses focused acoustic waves at RF frequency range (100-300MHz) toinduce localized forces on AFM cantilevers in liquids. The actuator has an actuation
bandwidth in excess of 1MHz and it can be used with any type of AFM cantilever
without a need for any magnetic or piezoelectric film. ARP actuator has been integrated
to a commercial AFM system and fast tapping mode imaging without a Z-piezo has
been demonstrated. Furthermore, single molecule force spectroscopy experiments wereconducted using the same system [3].
1. A.G. Onaran, M. Balantekin, W. Lee, W.L. Hughes, B.A. Buchine, R.O. Guldiken, Z. Parlak, C.F.
Quate and F.L. Degertekin, “A new atomic force microscope probe with force sensing integrated
readout and active tip,” Review of Scientific Instruments, 77, 023501 (7 pages), 2006.
2. H. Torun, J. Sutanto, K.K. Sarangapani, P. Joseph, F.L. Degertekin and C. Zhu, “Micromachined
membrane-based active probe for biomolecular mechanics measurement,” submitted to
Nanotechnology, 2006.
3. A.G. Onaran and F.L. Degertekin, “A fluid cell with integrated acoustic radiation pressure
actuator for atomic force microscopy”, Review of Scientific Instruments, 76, 103703, (6 pages) 2005.

20

Day 3 Wednesday 17 January

SESSION VI

Subnanometer-resolution Imaging in Liquid by Frequency Modulation
Atomic Force Microscopy
Hirofumi Yamada, Kei Kobayashi
Kyoto University
Katsura, Nishikyo, Kyoto 615-8510, Japan
E-mail: h-yamada@kuee.kyoto-u.ac.jp
High-resolution imaging in liquid by FM-AFM is severely hindered by the extreme
reduction of the Q-factor due to the hydrodynamic interaction between the cantilever
and the liquid. We recently found that the use of the small amplitude mode and the large
noise reduction in the cantilever deflection sensor brought a great progress in FM-AFM
imaging in liquid. The force sensitivity is increased by FM detection with small
amplitude oscillation because of the increase in the duration of the proximity
interactions. Note that the small amplitude mode can be used only when the noise in thedeflection sensor is sufficiently reduced down to a level of the thermal fluctuation of thecantilever. We found that the noise was effectively suppressed by decreasing the laser
light coherence, which was experimentally performed by modulating the laser powerwith a high frequency signal (300-500 MHz).
In this presentation we describe subnanometer-resolution imaging of organic
molecules including biomolecules in liquid using the improved FM-AFM. Figure 1
shows an FM-AFM image of a muscovite mica surface taken in pure water. The
honeycomb structure of SiO4 tetrahedrons with a period of 0.52 nm is clearly seen. We
also succeeded in obtaining high-resolution FM-AFM images of bacteriorhodopsin
protein molecules hexagonally packed in a purple membrane as well as GroEL
molecules, the chaperonin of E. coli, with a sevenfold-symmetric structure. The images
were taken in buffer solution. In addition, hydration structures on a mica surface inwater were investigated by FM-AFM with small amplitude oscillation. Figure 2 shows afrequency shift (corresponding to conservative force) vs. distance curve ( f-d), whereclear oscillation with a spacing of about 0.2nm due to the hydration structure wasobserved. The value is close to the size of water molecule (0.26nm). The success inhigh-resolution FM-AFM imaging in liquid has opened the new way to direct
visualization of in vivo molecular-scale biological process.

Fig. 2. Frequency shift vs.
distance curve measured on amica surface in water.
f = +20 Hz, A = 0.24 nm)

Fig. 1. FM-AFM image of a mica
surface taken in pure water.
f = +20 Hz, A = 0.24 nm)

21

Day 3 Wednesday 17 January

SESSION VII

Structural dynamics of acto-myosin V revealed by high-speed AFM
Noriyuki Kodera1, Daisuke Yamamoto1,2 & Toshio Ando1,2
1

Dep. of Physics, Kanazawa University, Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa 920-1192, Japan
2
JST/CREST, 4-1-8 Honcho, Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan
E-mail: ikouyo@kenroku.kanazawa-u.ac.jp

Myosin V is a two-headed molecular motor that delivers intracellular cargos over along distance by moving processively along actin filaments. Its chemical kinetics andmechanical properties have been elucidated in a series of biochemical and biophysicalstudies. The hand-over-hand model that explains the myosin V processivity has reacheda consensus1. However, its structural dynamics details have not yet elucidated by any
techniques. Thus, we tried to visualize them using an advanced high-speed atomic force
microscope (AFM)2 equipped with various superior controllers that could enhance thescan speed and reduce the tip-sample interaction force as much as possible.
Both in nucleotide-free and ADP-containing solutions, myosin V attached to actin
filament rigidly with only one head. The bound head formed an arrow-head-likestructure, from which the polarity of the actin filament was identified. The bound head
was the trailing head. By the addition of ATP, first both the heads of myosin V bound to
the same actin filament at sites spaced about 36-nm apart. Then, the trailing head was
detached from the actin filament, which was accompanied by bending of the leadinghead’s neck region, so that the trailing head was quickly moved forward and waswavering like searching a next binding site on the actin filament. After wavering for awhile, it landed on an actin site about 72-nm apart from the previous bound-site andthus became a new leading head. These AFM movies directly showed a series ofstructural changes in myosin V during the hand-over-hand movement.

1. J. R. Sellers & C. Veigel, Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 18, 68-73 (2006).
2. T. Ando, T. Uchihashi, N. Kodera, A. Miyagi, R. Nakakita, H. Yamashita & M.
Sakashita, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 45, 1897-1903 (2006).

22

Day 3 Wednesday 17 January

SESSION VII

Chaperonin GroEL-GroES action captured by high-speed AFM
Daisuke Yamamoto1,2, Masaaki Taniguchi1 and Toshio Ando1,2
1

Department of Physics, Kanazawa University, Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa 920-1192
Japan,
2
JST/CREST, 4-1-8, Honcho, Kawaguchi-shi, Saitama 332-0012 Japan
E-mail: yamadai@kenroku.kanazawa-u.ac.jp

The correct folding of many proteins in prokaryotes and eukaryotes requires theaction of large protein structures known as chaperonins. GroEL, the chaperonin ofEscherichia coli, is composed of 14 identical 57kDa subunits forming two heptamericrings, stacked back to back, each with a large central cavity. The binding of ATP and theco-chaperonin GroES, composed of seven 10kDa identical subunits, to GroEL double
ring is required for productive folding of misfolded proteins. The asymmetry in thebinding-release reaction between GroEL and GroES has been resolved throughbiochemical studies, including single ATP turnover experiments and the analysis ofsingle ring mutants. Based of these observations, a model for a GroEL-GroES reaction
cycle has been proposed. The GroEL has a negative cooperativity between the two rings
and the GroES is assumed to stably bind only to either GroEL ring during ATPhydrolysis. However, this alternate GroES binding has not directly been evidenced bysingle molecule experiments.
Here, we describe the direct elucidation of this negatively cooperative binding actionof the chaperonin system using a high-speed atomic force microscope (high-speed
AFM). We first prepared a sample system in which GroEL lay down on a substratum.
Because GroEL has a nature to attach onto bare mica surface in an end-up orientation,
which keeps GroES from accessing to the both ends of GroEL, an appropriate substrate
was needed. For this purpose, we performed two-dimensional crystallization of
streptavidin on a supported phospholipid bilayer. Over a wide area the obtained
streptavidin crystal was flat enough for AFM observation. To anchor the GroEL
molecules on a substratum at their sidewalls, a GroEL mutant and its modification withbiotin is needed; Asp at the equatorial domain was replaced with Cys and biotin
molecule was attached to this residue. With these preparations it became possible toobserve GroEL from its side by high-speed AFM. GroEL alone looked like a barrel,
while GroEL associated with one GroES looked like a bullet. In the presence of GroES
and ATP, dynamic changes in the GroEL appearance were successfully captured onvideo. The kinetics of dissociation of GroES from GroEL depicted from high-speed
AFM observations showed two rate constants, contrary to the conventional model thatassumes only one rate constant. Furthermore, a football shaped complex, in which the
GroEL is bound by two GroES at the both ends, was confirmed to be formed during thechaperonin reaction cycles. We will report the details of these studies.

23

Day 3 Wednesday 17 January

SESSION VII

Alkaline Phosphatase Interactions with ordered membrane domains
Christian Le Grimellec1, Marie-Cécile Giocondi 1,Françoise Besson2,
Patrice Dosset1, and Pierre-Emmanuel Milhiet1.
1

INSERM U554, Nanostructures et Complexes Membranaires,Centre de Biochimie
Structurale, F34090 Montpellier, France ; CNRS UMR5048, F34090 Montpellier,France ; Universités Montpellier 1 et 2, F34090 Montpellier, France.
2

Laboratoire Organisation et Dynamique des Membranes Biologiques, CNRS UMR
5013,
Université Claude Bernard Lyon I, 43 boulevard du 11 novembre 1918,
F-69622 Villeurbanne Cedex, France
E-mail: clg@cbs.cnrs.fr

GPI-anchored proteins preferentially localize in the most ordered regions of the cell
plasma membrane. Acyl and alkyl chain composition of GPI-anchors determine theassociation with the ordered domains. This suggests that changes in the fluid and in theordered domains lipid composition affect the interaction of GPI-anchored proteins withmembrane microdomains. Atomic force microscopy(AFM) shows that the
spontaneous insertion of the GPI-anchored intestinal alkaline phophatase (BIAP) into
the gel phase domains of dioleoylphosphatidyl-choline/dipalmitoyl-phosphatidylcholine (DOPC/DPPC) and DOPC/sphingomyelin (DOPC/SM) also occurred inpalmitoyloleoylphosphatidylcholine/SM (POPC/SM) gel-fluid phase separated
membranes. However changes in the lipid composition of membranes had a marked
effect on the bilayer topography: BIAP insertion was associated with a net transfer ofphospholipids from the fluid to the gel (DOPC/DPPC) or from the gel to the fluid(POPC/SM) phases. For DOPC/SM bilayers, transfer of lipids was dependent on thehomogeneity of the gel SM phase. In POPC/SM binary mixtures with the coexistence of
fluid, gel and liquid ordered phases induced by cholesterol (POPC:SM:Chl, 1:1:0,35),
BIAP preferentially localized in the more ordered phase, at room temperature. However,this distribution of BIAP between fluid and ordered phases was a function oftemperature. How the AFM imaging of BIAP in model systems could contribute to theunderstanding of the behaviour of GPI-anchored proteins in biological membranes andwhat are the limitations of AFM in such studies will be discussed.

24Day 3 Wednesday 17 January

SESSION VII

Structure and assembly of membrane proteins in native membranes byatomic force microscopy (AFM)
Simon Scheuring, Nikolay Buzhynskyy, Rui Pedro Goncalves, Szymon Jaroslawski
Institut Curie, UMR-CNRS 168, 26 rue d’Ulm, 75248 Paris, France.
Email: simon.scheuring@curie.fr
www: http://perso.curie.fr/Simon.Scheuring/
The atomic force microscope (AFM) has become a powerful tool in structural biology
allowing the investigation of biological samples under native-like conditions:experiments are performed in physiological buffer at room temperature and undernormal pressure. Topographies of membrane proteins can be acquired at a lateral
resolution of ~10Å and a vertical resolution of ~1Å. Importantly, the AFM features anextraordinary signal-to-noise ratio allowing imaging of individual membrane proteins inprokaryotic 1 and eukaryotic 2 native membranes that participate in supramolecularassemblies. These images can be docked with high precision by high-resolution
structures resulting in atomic models of multiple proteins working together. The
development of a novel 2-chamber AFM setup, in which membranes are deposited on
nano-patterned surfaces, allows probing non-supported functional membrane proteins 3.
1) Chromatic adaptation of photosynthetic membranes.
Science, 2005, 309, 5733, 484-487
Simon Scheuring* & James Sturgis
2) The supramolecular architecture of junctional microdomains in native lens membranes.
EMBO R., 2007, 8, 1, doi:10.1038/sj.embor.7400858
Nikolay Buzhynskyy, Richard Hite, Thomas Walz & Simon Scheuring*3) 2-Chamber-AFM: Probing Membrane Proteins Separating Two Aqueous Compartments.
Nature Methods 2006, 3 (12): 1007-1012
Rui Pedro Gonçalves, Guillaume Agnus, Pierre Sens, Christine Houssin, Bernard Bartenlian & Simon
Scheuring*25

Day 3 Wednesday 17 January

SESSION VII

Relating structure, biomechanics and function of single membraneproteins
Sonia Antoranz Contera1, Kislon Voïtchovsky1, Hayato Yamashita2, Takayuki
Uchihashi2, Toshio Ando2, J.F. Ryan1
1

Bionanotechnology IRC, Clarendon Laboratory, Physics Department, University of
Oxford, Oxford OX4 3AP, UK
2
Graduate School of Natural Science & Technology, Kanazawa University, Kakuma,
Kanazawa, Ishikawa 920-1192, Japan
E-mail: s.antoranzcontera1@physics.ox.ac.uk
One of the greatest challenges of biophysics is to understand how membrane protein
sequences relate to the local forces that dynamically control their structure and drive
their function. AFM is one of the most powerful techniques to address this problem,
however, most of the single membrane protein unfolding AFM studies available fail torelate the potential barriers observed to specific molecular interactions relevant for theprotein function.
In some of our recent papers, we have combined membrane indentation with AFM1,
AC-force spectroscopy2, AFM unfolding and extraction of model peptides inserted
planar lipid bilayers at different speeds3, unfolding and extraction of bacteriorhodopsin(bR) from purple membranes4 and comparison of pulling experiments with molecular
dynamics simulations3 to relate structure, nano-biomechanics, local hydration,mechanical properties and function of membrane proteins.
In particular, retinal proteins convert the energy of a single photon into large structuralchanges subsequently used to carry out various tasks. This is achieved by a complex
combination of local dynamical interactions controlling the protein biomechanics,
allowing efficient amplification of the retinal isomerization. In the case of the retinalcontaining proton-pump bR we have shown that steric, specific interactions create arigid scaffold in the protein extracellular region4. This scaffold, which encloses theretinal, controls bR local biomechanical properties and anchors the protein into themembrane. In contrast, the cytoplasmic side of bR is mainly governed by relatively
weak non-specific electrostatic interactions which provide the flexibility necessary forlarge cytoplasmic structural rearrangements during the photocycle. Finally we show thatbR mechanical properties are part of the strategy adopted by bR to efficiently function
in extreme halophilic environments.
References
1. Voitchovsky, K., Antoranz Contera, S., Kamihira, M., Watts, A. & Ryan, J. F. Differential stiffness andlipid mobility in the leaflets of purple membranes. Biophys. J. 90, 2075-2085 (2006).
2. Antoranz Contera, S., Voïtchovsky, K., Yamashita, H., Uchihashi, T, Ando, T., Ryan J.F. Small
amplitude sub-molecular resolution AC-AFM and High-Speed AC-AFM of purple membranes in fluid:
non-continuum effects inside the double-layer. Biophys. J. Suppl. Meeting Abstract (2006).
3. Antoranz Contera, S., Lemaître, V., De Planque, M.R.R., Watts, A., Ryan, J.F. Unfolding andextraction of a transmembrane α-helical peptide: Dynamic force spectroscopy and molecular dynamics
simulations. Biophys. J., 89 , 3129-3140 (2005).
4. Voitchovsky, K., Antoranz Contera, S. & Ryan, J. F. “Single-molecule nano-biomechanics ofrhodopsin-like proteins”:. Biophys. J. (2007) submitted.

26

Day 3 Wednesday 17 January

SESSION VII

Improvements in high-speed AFM and observation of
membrane protein dynamics
Takayuki Uchihashi, Hayato Yamashita, and Toshio Ando

Dep. of Physics, Kanazawa University, Kakuma, Kanazawa, Ishikawa 920-1192, Japan
CREST-JST, 4-1-8 Honcho, Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan
E-mail: tuchi@kenroku.kanazawau-ac.jp
High-speed atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a unique tool to investigate thedynamic behaviors of proteins at works. Owing to the efforts for improving thescanning speed and feedback performance, an imaging rate of 50ms/frame has beenachieved and then it is now possible to routinely observe dynamic actions of proteinssuch motor proteins. However, the imaging rate would be still insufficient to capture
faster movement. Also the information we can take from the images was limited to only
structure although tapping-mode AFM has a capability to sense chemical andmechanical properties of surface through detecting the phase difference of the cantilever
oscillation. Here, we present some improvements to overcome these current limitations
regarding the imaging rate and the phase imaging. Also, we show the recent results
which show one application of high-speed AFM to observe dynamic behavior ofmembrane proteins.
I.

Direct control of tip-surface distance using photo-thermal actuation of a
cantilever.
An intensity-modulated infrared laser beam was used to photo-thermally deflect
small cantilevers. The slow response of the photo-thermal expansion effect waseliminated by inverse transfer function compensation. By regulating the laser power andhence regulating the cantilever deflection, the tip-sample distance was controlled, which
was made much faster than conventional piezoactuator-based z-scanners because of thevery high resonant frequency of the cantilevers. Using this control, video-rate imaging
of protein molecules in liquids was achieved for the scan range of 250nm.
II.

Fast phase imaging on polymer surface
We developed a fast phase detector which can detect the phase difference between
the cantilever oscillation and the excitation signal at each oscillation cycles. The
phase-shift images clearly revealed the compositional heterogeneities instyrene-butadiene-styrene block copolymer films even at an imaging rate of more than
100 ms/frame.
III.
Dynamic observation of purple membrane
We applied high-speed AFM to image purple membrane (PM) in a buffer solution. We
observed fluctuations of the crystal structures at the edge of PM due to desorption ofbacteriorhodopsin (bR) trimers, diffusion of bR trimers in lipids, and decrystallization
process of PM induced by photo bleaching. We also succeeded in imaging bR trimers
faster than video rate. These results will open up new possibilities for studying
membrane assembling processes and protein-protein interactions in membrane.

27Day 3 Wednesday 17 January

SESSION VII

Platinum Sponsor Lecture
New lineup of RIBM products: SXM-advanced, SXM-basic, and high-speed AFM
NanoLiveVision
Takashi Morii
Research Institute of Biomolecule Metrology, Co, Inc.
E-mail: morii@ribm.co.jp28

Day 4 Thursday 18 January

SESSION VIII

Mechanobiology: Non-imaging Applications of AFM in Cell Biology
Andrew E. Pelling1, Farlan S. Veraitch2, Carol Chu2, Chris Mason2, Brian M. Nicholls1,
Martin Koltzenburg3, Yaron R. Silberberg1 and Michael A. Horton1
1

The London Centre for Nanotechnology and Department of Medicine
2Advanced Centre for Biochemical Engineering
3
Institute for Child Health
University College London, United Kingdom.
Correspondence Email:a.pelling@ucl.ac.uk

Measurement of the dynamic mechanical characteristics of living cells can often reveal
surprising insights into cell biology in addition to quantifying material properties. The
atomic force microscope (AFM) is a powerful nanoscale imaging device but its
split-personality also allows for non-imaging mechanical approaches which havepowerful applications when studying the biology of living cells. The AFM is well
suited to measuring dynamic changes in the mechanical properties of cell membranes aswell as applying controlled forces to living cells and tissues. This creates both passive
and non-passive approaches to cell mechanics through measurement of material
properties in addition to controlling and/or directing biological responses throughapplied force. In this talk I will present recent work from the London Centre for
Nanotechnology in which the dynamic mechanical properties of living cells aremeasured and altered with combined fluorescence/confocal-AFM approaches. The
results reveal surprising insights into biochemical signalling pathways as wellmechanical dynamics during biological processes. Examples will be provided
detailing how AFM can be used to detect and/or alter biological processes in single cells
and tissues during apoptosis, cardiac contractions, primary neuron mechanotransduction,and organelle rearrangement in response to applied loads.

29Day 4 Thursday 18 January

SESSION VIII

Cell Surgery: A Novel Living Cell Manipulation Technology Using
Nanoneedle and AFM
Chikashi Nakamura
Research Institute for Cell Engineering, National Institute of Advanced Industrial
Science and Technology (AIST), 2-41-6, Aomi, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-0064, Japan
E-mail: chikashi-nakamura@aist.go.jp
Recently, applications of atomic force microscopy (AFM) have been extended to thefield of cell biology. Direct imaging of living cell is powerful tools to analyze thearchitecture of living cell surface without staining or chemical pretreatements. We areutilizing an AFM system to manipulate a living cell. We expect that substances on asurface of the AFM tip can be forcibly and precisely transferred into a living cell, like akind of surgical operations. Here we show a new low invasive single cell manipulationand gene delivery technology using an ultra thin needle (nanoneedle) and AFM. An
AFM tip is etched and sharpened using focused ion beam to form a needle shape of 200
nm in diameter and 10 m in length. The insertion process of nanoneedle into a cell canbe monitored with a force exerted to the AFM cantilever. A needle penetration event
into a cell is represented as a sudden repulsive force relaxation appearing in the force
curve (Fig. 1). The invasiveness of the nanoneedle of 200 nm is so low that even twohours continuous insertion of the nanoneedle does not cause any cell death. Therefore
we can manipulate a single cell sequentially.
The nanoneedle insertion could be applied for high-efficiency DNA transfer toliving cell. The needle surface was modified with a positively charged peptide,poly-lysine. The DNAs adsorbed on the surface of nanoneedle electro-statically at pH
7.4 same as a culture medium. When the DNA immobilized needle was inserted to aliving cell and was kept for several minutes, DNA molecules were efficiently released
from the needle surface in cytosol autonomously by decrease of pH. We achieved
high-efficiency gene transfer into the human primary cultured mesenchymal stem cell,with over 70% efficiency.

Fig. 1 Force-distance curves when a normal AFM tip (upper) and nanoneedle (lower)
were approached to a living cell.

30

Day 4 Thursday 18 January

SESSION VIII

Viscoelastic Properties of Living Cells Investigated byTime-domain AFM Analysis
T. Okajima, M. Tanaka, S. Tsukiyama, T. Kadowaki,
S. Yamamoto, M. Shimomura, H. Tokumoto
Nanotechnology Research Center, Research Institute for Electronic Science, Hokkaid o
University, Creative Research Initiative “Sousei”, Hokkaido University, N21 W 10
Kitaku, Sapporo, 001 -0021, Japan
E-mail: okajima@es.hokudai.ac.jp
Since living cells have high anisotropy as a consequence of their complex internalarchitecture, it is crucial to explore the relationship between structure and function at the
micro-and nanoscale under physiological conditions. In this study, we measured
mechanical relaxation of living cells by a time -domain AFM analysis, in which anindentation force was applied to the cell by the AFM tip, and then a time series of thecantilever deflection signal was measured at the fixed position of cantileverdisplacement (Fig.1 (left)). We used a commercial AFM apparatus, MFP-3D AFM(Asylum Research, Santa Barbara, CA), which was mounted on an inverted optical
microscope (IX71, Olympus Co.) and a silicon cantilever "BioLever Mini’’ (BL-AC40TS, Olympus Co) whose spring constant and resonance frequency were l~0.1
N/m and ~30 kHz in liquids. Mechanical relaxation, i.e., a decay of the applied force,was clearly observed on human hepatoma cell line, HepG2 cells [1] and mouse
fibroblast cell line, NIH3T3 cells [2]. The relaxation was well fitted to a stretchedexponential function known as the Kohlrausch-Williams-Watts (KWW) function, whichis empirically employed to represent dispersion processes of the system. The stretching
exponent was estimated to be around 0.5, implying that the relaxation observed in
HepG2 cells consisted of multiple relaxation process. The relaxation of cells was alsomeasured by colloidal probe AFM, in which a silica bead with the diameter less than
2um was attached on the tip apex. The relaxations observed by the colloidal probe AFM
were consistent with those by the sharp tip. This work was partly supported byIndustrial Technology Research Grant Program in 2006 from New Energy and Industrial
Technology Development Organization (NEDO) of Japan.

Fig. 1 (left) Schematics of stress (mechanical) relaxation measurement with AFM. The tip contacted
the cell surface (region I), the position of the cantilever base Z was kept at a constant value (region II),and the tip was retracted (region III). (right) Typical approach and retraction force–distance curves
measured in HepG2 cells. Inset shows the time series of the deflection signals observed on the HepG2
and a polyacrylamide (PAAm) gel.

[1] T. Okajima, M. Tanaka, S. Tsukiyama, T. Kadowaki, S. Yamamoto, M. Shimomura and H.
Tokumoto, Nanotechnology in press.
[2] T. Okajima et al. JJAP in preparation.

31