原子力显微镜 (AFM) 在细菌生物被膜研究中的应用

Application of atomic force microscopy (AFM) to study bacterial biofilms

摘要:

原子力显微镜 (AFM) 作为一项重要的表面可视化技术，以其独特的优势 (纳米级的空间分辨率、皮牛级力灵敏度、免标记、可在溶液环境下工作) 被广泛应用于生物被膜的研究。AFM不仅可以在近生理环境下对生物被膜表面超微形貌进行可视化表征，同时还可以通过纳米压痕对生物被膜的机械特性 (弹性和黏性) 进行定量测量，利用AFM单细胞和单分子力谱技术可以获得生物被膜形成过程中细胞-基底以及细胞-细胞之间的相互作用力，为生物被膜的实时原位系统研究提供了可行性。本文简述了AFM的基本操作原理，综述了近年来AFM用于生物被膜表面超微结构成像、机械特性测量以及相互作用力研究方面的进展，并对AFM在生物被膜研究中面临的问题和未来的发展方向进行了讨论。

Abstract:

Because of the nanometre resolution, piconewton force sensitivity, label-free technique and the ability to operate in liquid environments, atomic force microscopy (AFM) has emerged as a powerful tool to explore the biofilm development processes. AFM provides three-dimensional topography and structural details of biofilm surfaces under in-situ conditions. It also helps to generate key information on the mechanical properties of biofilm surfaces, such as elasticity and stickiness. Additionally, single-molecule and single-cell force spectroscopies can be applied to measure the strength of adhesion, attraction, and repulsion forces between cell-solid and cell-cell surfaces. This paper outlined the basic principle of AFM technique and introduced recent advances in the application of AFM for the investigation of ultra-morphological, mechanical and interactive properties of biofilms. Furthermore, the existing problems and future prospects were discussed.