Dynamic Imaging with High-Speed AFM to Study Cell Movement

Atomic force microscope (AFM) can directly image proteins, DNA and living cell shapes without fixed or stain treatment. But conventional AFM cannot observe the dynamic behavior, because the scanning speed is about 10min per one frame. High-speed AFM (HS-AFM), developed by Prof. Ando, can observe dynamic behavior of motor proteins as movie (1) (2).Living cells have an interested movement with lamellipodia and filopodia. Recent study, the cell movement on the edge and process of endocytosis on cell surface were reported (3). In this study, we focused cell movement on edge. We observed living HeLa cell behavior without treatment. Dynamic movements with leaving stressfilbers were imaged. To reveal the filopodia motion, we got images of detailed filopodia motion. We evaluated the elongating and shrinking of filopodia.1. T. Ando et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 98, 12468- (2001).2. N. Kodera et al., Nature 468: 72- (2010).3. H. Watanabe et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum 84, 053702- (2013).fig: topographic images of HeLa cell motion. scanning range: 5um x 5um, scanning speed: 0.5 fpsView Large Image | View Hi-Res Image | Download PowerPoint Slide