Category: News

Simultaneous Quantification of the Interplay Between Molecular Turnover and Cell Mechanics by AFM–FRAP

Quantifying the adaptive mechanical behavior of living cells is essential for the understanding of their inner working and function.*

In their article “Simultaneous Quantification of the Interplay Between Molecular Turnover and Cell Mechanics by AFM–FRAP” Mark Skamrahl, Huw Colin‐York, Liliana Barbieri and Marco Fritzsche use a combination of atomic force microscopy and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching is introduced which offers simultaneous quantification and direct correlation of molecule kinetics and mechanics in living cells.*

Simultaneous quantification of the relationship between molecule kinetics and cell mechanics may thus open up unprecedented insights into adaptive mechanobiological mechanisms of cells.*

For the AFM nanoindentation tests described in their publication the authors used NanoWorld Arrow-TL2 tipless cantilevers that were functionalized with a polystyrene bead with 5 µm radius.*

Figure 1 a from “Simultaneous Quantification of the Interplay Between Molecular Turnover and Cell Mechanics by AFM–FRAP” by M. Skamrahl et al.: Establishment and calibration of the optomechanical AFM–FRAP platform. a) Schematic of the AFM–FRAP setup illustrating the experimental power of simultaneous quantification of molecule kinetics and cell mechanics
Figure 1 a from “Simultaneous Quantification of the Interplay Between Molecular Turnover and Cell Mechanics by AFM–FRAP” by M. Skamrahl et al.:
Establishment and calibration of the optomechanical AFM–FRAP platform. a) Schematic of the AFM–FRAP setup illustrating the experimental power of simultaneous quantification of molecule kinetics and cell mechanics

*Mark Skamrahl, Huw Colin‐York, Liliana Barbieri, Marco Fritzsche
Simultaneous Quantification of the Interplay Between Molecular Turnover and Cell Mechanics by AFM–FRAP
Small 2019, 1902202
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.201902202

Please follow this external link to the full article https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/smll.201902202

Open Access: The article « Simultaneous Quantification of the Interplay Between Molecular Turnover and Cell Mechanics by AFM–FRAP » by Mark Skamrahl, Huw Colin‐York, Liliana Barbieri and Marco Fritzsche is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other thirdparty material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Real-Time Observation of Fibrous Zeolites Reactivity in Contact with Simulated Lung Fluids (SLFs) Obtained by Atomic Force Microscope (AFM)

Inhalation of fibrous erionite particles has been linked to malignant mesothelioma. Accordingly, erionite is considered the most carcinogenic mineral. The reactivity and the nature of erionite biotoxicity has been the subject of intensive research. Despite very close chemical and structural relationships between erionite and offretite, the reactivity of offretite in lung fluids remains unknown.*
In their paper “Real-Time Observation of Fibrous Zeolites Reactivity in Contact with Simulated Lung Fluids (SLFs) Obtained by Atomic Force Microscope (AFM)”, Matteo Giordani, Georgia Cametti, Fulvio Di Lorenzo and Sergey V. Churakov investigate the interaction of erionite and offretite surfaces with simulated lung fluids by means of in situ atomic force microscope (AFM).*

The outcomes presented in the paper mentioned above represent an important step in understanding the complex processes occurring at the surfaces of mineral fibres that could be involved in the toxicological pathway.*

The topography scans were performed in tapping mode with a NanoWorld Arrow-UHFAuD AFM probes under different experimental conditions.
To better discriminate the role of the tip from the actual fluid-surface interaction, additional measurements were performed in air and in water in contact mode using an Al-coated NanoWorld Arrow-CONTR AFM cantilever.

Figure 2 from M. Giordani et al. “Real-Time Observation of Fibrous Zeolites Reactivity in Contact with Simulated Lung Fluids (SLFs) Obtained by Atomic Force Microscope (AFM)”: Atomic force microscope (AFM) images of offretite FF surface, in MilliQ water at 25 °C, at different magnifications: (a) height retrace image of particles of different sizes on surface and related sections (d); (b) amplitude retrace image of particularly clean surface terraces and related section (c).

*Matteo Giordani, Georgia Cametti, Fulvio Di Lorenzo and Sergey V. Churakov
Real-Time Observation of Fibrous Zeolites Reactivity in Contact with Simulated Lung Fluids (SLFs) Obtained by Atomic Force Microscope (AFM)
Minerals 2019, 9(2), 83
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/min9020083

Please follow this external link for the full article: https://www.mdpi.com/403600

Open Access: The paper « Real-Time Observation of Fibrous Zeolites Reactivity in Contact with Simulated Lung Fluids (SLFs) Obtained by Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) » by Matteo Giordani, Georgia Cametti, Fulvio Di Lorenzo and Sergey V. Churakov is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Launching of hyperbolic phonon-polaritons in h-BN slabs by resonant metal plasmonic antennas

Launching and manipulation of polaritons in van der Waals materials offers novel opportunities for applications such as field-enhanced molecular spectroscopy and photodetection.*

Particularly, the highly confined hyperbolic phonon polaritons (HPhPs) in h-BN slabs attract growing interest for their capability of guiding light at the nanoscale. An efficient coupling between free space photons and HPhPs is, however, hampered by their large momentum mismatch.*

In the article “Launching of hyperbolic phonon-polaritons in h-BN slabs by resonant metal plasmonic antennas” P. Pons-Valencia, F. J. Alfaro-Mozaz, M. M. Wiecha, V. Biolek, I. Dolado, S. Vélez,P. Li, P. Alonso-González, F. Casanova, L. E. Hueso, L. Martín-Moreno, R. Hillenbrand and A. Y. Nikitin show that resonant metallic antennas can efficiently launch HPhPs in thin h-BN slabs. Despite the strong hybridization of HPhPs in the h-BN slab and Fabry-Pérot plasmonic resonances in the metal antenna, the efficiency of launching propagating HPhPs in h-BN by resonant antennas exceeds significantly that of the non-resonant ones.

Their results provide fundamental insights into the launching of HPhPs in thin polar slabs by resonant plasmonic antennas, which will be crucial for phonon-polariton based nanophotonic devices.*

A commercial s-SNOM setup in which the oscillating (at a frequency Ω≅270kHz) metal-coated (Pt/Ir) AFM tip (NanoWorld ARROW-NCPt) was illuminated by p-polarized mid-IR radiation, was used.*

Figure 4 from “Launching of hyperbolic phonon-polaritons in h-BN slabs by resonant metal plasmonic antennas” by P. Pns-Valencia et al. : Near-field imaging of the HPhPs launched by the gold antenna. a Schematics of the s-SNOM setup. b Illustration of antenna launching of HPhPs. The spatial distribution of the near-field (shown by the red and blue colors) is adapted from the simulation of Re(Ez). c Topography of the antenna. d Simulated near-field distribution, |E(x, y)|, created by the rod antenna on CaF2 (the field is taken at the top surface of the antenna). Scale bars in c, d are 0.5 μm. e, h Experimental near-field images. f, i Simulated near-field distribution |Ez(x, y)| (taken 150 nm away from the h-BN slab). g, j Simulated near-field distribution |Ez(z, y)| taken in the cross-section plane along the center of the rod antenna. In e–g ω = 1430 cm−1, while in h–j ω = 1515 cm−1. The scale bars in e–i are 2 μm and in g, j are 0.1 μm (vertical) and 0.5 μm (horizontal). The length of the antenna in all panels is L = 2.29 μm

Figure 4 from “Launching of hyperbolic phonon-polaritons in h-BN slabs by resonant metal plasmonic antennas” by P. Pons-Valencia et al. :
Near-field imaging of the HPhPs launched by the gold antenna. a Schematics of the s-SNOM setup. b Illustration of antenna launching of HPhPs. The spatial distribution of the near-field (shown by the red and blue colors) is adapted from the simulation of Re(Ez). c Topography of the antenna. d Simulated near-field distribution, |E(x, y)|, created by the rod antenna on CaF2 (the field is taken at the top surface of the antenna). Scale bars in c, d are 0.5 μm. e, h Experimental near-field images. f, i Simulated near-field distribution |Ez(x, y)| (taken 150 nm away from the h-BN slab). g, j Simulated near-field distribution |Ez(z, y)| taken in the cross-section plane along the center of the rod antenna. In e–g ω = 1430 cm−1, while in h–j ω = 1515 cm−1. The scale bars in e–i are 2 μm and in g, j are 0.1 μm (vertical) and 0.5 μm (horizontal). The length of the antenna in all panels is L = 2.29 μm

*P. Pons-Valencia, F. J. Alfaro-Mozaz, M. M. Wiecha, V. Biolek, I. Dolado, S. Vélez,P. Li, P. Alonso-González, F. Casanova, L. E. Hueso, L. Martín-Moreno, R. Hillenbrand, A. Y. Nikitin
Launching of hyperbolic phonon-polaritons in h-BN slabs by resonant metal plasmonic antennas
Nature Communications 2019; 10: 3242
doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-11143-7

Please follow this external link to read the full article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6642108/

Open Access: The paper « Launching of hyperbolic phonon-polaritons in h-BN slabs by resonant metal plasmonic antennas » by P. Pons-Valencia, F. J. Alfaro-Mozaz, M. M. Wiecha, V. Biolek, I. Dolado, S. Vélez,P. Li, P. Alonso-González, F. Casanova, L. E. Hueso, L. Martín-Moreno, R. Hillenbrand and A. Y. Nikitin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.