A Look Beyond Topography: Transient Phenomena of Cell Division Captured with High-speed In-line Force Mapping

Overview

Journal Sci Adv

Date 2025 Jan 29

PMID 39879298

Authors

Christian Ganser

Shigetaka Nishiguchi

Feng-Yueh Chan

Takayuki Uchihashi

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Life on the nanoscale has been made accessible in recent decades by the development of fast and noninvasive techniques. High-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM) is one such technique that shed light on single protein dynamics. Extending HS-AFM to effortlessly incorporate mechanical property mapping while maintaining fast imaging speed allows a look deeper than topography and reveal details of nanoscale mechanisms that govern life. Here, we present high-speed in-line force mapping (HS-iFM) to record mechanical properties and topography maps with high spatiotemporal resolution. Using HS-iFM, a comprehensive study of the nanoscale mechanical properties of living revealed localized stiffening and details during cell division, formation and diffusion of pores in the membrane, and the impact of depressurization of a cell. The frame time was as low as 15 seconds with a spatial resolution of 5.5 nanometers per pixel in topography and 22 nanometers per pixel in force maps, allowing the capture of transient phenomena on bacterial surfaces in striking detail.

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