Bioelectromechanical Imaging by Scanning Probe Microscopy: Galvani's Experiment at the Nanoscale

Journal Article · Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2006 · Ultramicroscopy

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultramic.2005.10.005· OSTI ID:976004

Kalinin, Sergei V ^[1]; Rodriguez, Brian J ^[1]; Shin, Junsoo ^[1]; Jesse, Stephen ^[1]; Grichko, V. ^[2]; Thundat, Thomas George ^[1]; Baddorf, Arthur P ^[1]; Gruverman, A. ^[2]

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1. ORNL
2. North Carolina State University

Since the discovery in the late 18th century of electrically induced mechanical response in muscle tissue, coupling between electrical and mechanical phenomena has been shown to be a near-universal feature of biological systems. Here, we employ scanning probe microscopy (SPM) to measure the sub-Angstrom mechanical response of a biological system induced by an electric bias applied to a conductive SPM tip. Visualization of the spiral shape and orientation of protein fibrils with 5 nm spatial resolution in a human tooth and chitin molecular bundle orientation in a butterfly wing is demonstrated. In particular, the applicability of SPM-based techniques for the determination of molecular orientation is discussed.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program
• DOE Contract Number: DE-AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 976004
• Journal Information: Ultramicroscopy, Vol. 106, Issue 4-5; ISSN 0304-3991
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
CHITIN
MICROSCOPY
MUSCLES
ORIENTATION
PROBES
PROTEINS
SHAPE
SPATIAL RESOLUTION