Molecular imaging of membrane proteins and microfilaments using atomic force microscopy.

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is an emerging technique for a variety of uses involving the analysis of cells. AFM is widely applied to obtain information about both cellular structural and subcellular events. In particular, a variety of investigations into membrane proteins and microfilaments were performed with AFM. Here, we introduce applications of AFM to molecular imaging of membrane proteins, and various approaches for observation and identification of intracellular microfilaments at the molecular level. These approaches can contribute to many applications of AFM in cell imaging.