Application of Atomic Force Microscopy in Molecular and Cell Biology
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Biophysics".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 July 2024 | Viewed by 3877
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Atomic force microscopy has been robustly used in life science for various purposes, such as nanoimaging of biological samples, measurement of molecular binding affinities, and dynamic biomolecular events. Although conventional atomic force microscopy provides high-resolution images, it is not fast enough to capture conformational dynamics of biomolecules effectively. The advent of high-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM) has provided a significant solution for scientists to visualize the dynamic behaviors of biomolecules and organelles in a real-time manner with high spatiotemporal resolution. HS-AFM is label-free, and it does not require sample pre-treatment, e.g., fixation. In addition, HS-AFM scanning can be performed under physiological buffer conditions.
HS-AFM, particularly the version developed by Prof. Toshio Ando, has been widely applied in various life science studies. For example, the classic walking myosin V along actin filaments, dynamic FG-filaments in the nuclear pore complex of human colorectal cancer cells, the fusogenic transition of influenza A hemagglutinin, nano-topographical features of exosomes, DNA-wrapping on single histone H2A protein, amongst others. Recently, the development of an ultra-wide scanner with megapixel resolution has enabled HS-AFM to perform live-cell time-lapse imaging. The application of HS-AFM is versatile; not only can it help to answer basic scientific questions, but it is also applicable to studying potential therapeutics that could inhibit target protein activities in certain diseases—amyloid aggregates in Alzheimer’s disease, for example.
In this Special Issue, we invite you to contribute original research articles and reviews on all aspects related to the theme of the “Application of Atomic Force Microscopy in Molecular and Cell Biology”. We especially hope to highlight novel findings in the biophysical properties of biomolecules/organelles and interaction between biomolecules and biomolecule–organelles.
Dr. Kee Siang Lim
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- atomic force microscopy
- biophysics
- biomolecule interactions
- organelles
- biomolecule self-assembly
- live cell imaging
- nanoimaging