AFM review study on pox viruses and living cells.

Single living cells were studied in growth medium by atomic force microscopy at a high--down to one image frame per second--imaging rate over time periods of many hours, stably producing hundreds of consecutive scans with a lateral resolution of approximately 30-40 nm. The cell was held by a micropipette mounted onto the scanner-piezo as shown in Häberle, W., J. K. H. Hörber, and G. Binnig. 1991. Force microscopy on living cells. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B9:1210-0000. To initiate specific processes on the cell surface the cells had been infected with pox viruses as reported earlier and, most likely, the liberation of a progeny virion by the still-living cell was observed, hence confirming and supporting earlier results (Häberle, W., J. K. H. Hörber, F. Ohnesorge, D. P. E. Smith, and G. Binnig. 1992. In situ investigations of single living cells infected by viruses. Ultramicroscopy. 42-44:1161-0000; Hörber, J. K. H., W. Häberle, F. Ohnesorge, G. Binnig, H. G. Liebich, C. P. Czerny, H. Mahnel, and A. Mayr. 1992. Investigation of living cells in the nanometer regime with the atomic force microscope. Scanning Microscopy. 6:919-930). Furthermore, the pox viruses used were characterized separately by AFM in an aqueous environment down to the molecular level. Quasi-ordered structural details were resolved on a scale of a few nm where, however, image distortions and artifacts due to multiple tip effects are probably involved--just as in very high resolution (<15-20 nm) images on the cells. Although in a very preliminary manner, initial studies on the mechanical resonance properties of a single living (noninfected) cell, held by the micropipette, have been performed. In particular, frequency response spectra were recorded that indicate elastic properties and enough stiffness of these cells to make the demonstrated rapid scanning of the imaging tip plausible. Measurements of this kind, especially if they can be proven to be cell-type specific, may perhaps have a large potential for biomedical applications. Images of these living cells were also recorded in the widely known (e.g., Radmacher, M., R. W. Tillmann, and H. E. Gaub. 1993. Imaging viscoelasticity by force modulation with the atomic force microscope. Biophys. J. 64:735-742) force modulation mode, yet at one low modulation frequency of approximately 2 kHz. (Note: After the cells were attached to the pipette by suction, they first deformed significantly and then reassumed their original spherical shape, which they also acquire when freely suspended in solution, to a great extent with the exception of the portion adjusting to the pipette edge geometry after approximately 0.5-1 h, which occurred in almost the same manner with uninfected cells, and those that had been infected several hours earlier. This seems to be a process which is at least actively supported by the cellular cytoskeleton, rather than a mere osmotic pressure effect induced by electrolyte transport through the membrane. Furthermore, several hours postinfection (p.i.) infected cells developed many optically visible refraction effects, which appeared as small dark spots in the light microscope, that we believed to be the regions in the cell plasma where viruses are assembled; this is known from the literature on electron microscopy on pox-infected cells and referred to there as "virus factories" (e.g., Moss, B. 1986. Replication of pox viruses. In Fundamental Virology, B. N. Fields and D. M. Knape, editors. Raven Press, New York. 637-655). Therefore, we assume that the cells stay alive during imaging, in our experience for approximately 30-45 h p.i.).

A look at membrane patches with a scanning force microscope.

We combined scanning force microscopy with patch-clamp techniques in the same experimental setup and obtained images of excised membrane patches spanning the tip of a glass pipette. These images indicate that cytoskeleton structures are still present in such membrane patches and form a strong connection between the membrane and the glass wall. This gives the membrane patch the appearance of a tent, stabilized by a scaffold of ropes. The lateral resolution of the images depends strongly on the observed structures and can reach values as low as 10 nm on the cytoskeleton elements of a (inside-out) patch. The observations suggest that measurements of membrane elasticity can be made, opening the way for further studies on mechanical properties of cell membranes.

Investigation of living cells in the nanometer regime with the scanning force microscope.

Membrane structures of different types of cells are imaged in the nanometer regime by scanning force microscopy (SFM). The images are compared to those obtained with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The SFM imaging can be done on the outer cell membrane under conditions that keep the cells alive in aqueous solutions. This opens up the possibility of observing the kinematics of the structures that determine the interaction of a cell with its environment. Therefore, STM observations, together with information obtained with the electron microscope, open up new ways of studying the development of biological structures. With the currently possible resolution, the SFM gives access to processes such as antibody binding or endo- and exocytosis, including processes correlated to the infection of cells by viruses.

In situ investigations of single living cells infected by viruses.

In this paper we report the direct observation of biological processes on living cells. The experiments were done in situ by scanning force microscopy on a scale inaccessible by other techniques under physiological conditions. Living monkey-kidney cultured cells were imaged under normal growth conditions and showed reproducible features on the 10 nm scale. Upon adding a suspension of pox viruses, characteristic changes of the cell membrane were repeatedly observed in different experiments on different cells. Almost immediately, a pronounced softening of the cell surface occurred which lasted only for a few minutes. More than two hours later very significant protrusions appeared to grow out of the cell membrane. These protrusions abruptly disappeared again. These events were only observed after infection and we interpret them as the exocytosis of proteins related to viral reproduction. After almost 20 h, a different type of event occurred which we interpret as the exocytosis of the progeny viruses themselves.

Scanning force microscopy studies of the S-layers from Bacillus coagulans E38-66, Bacillus sphaericus CCM2177 and of an antibody binding process.

In many prokaryotic cells (eubacteria and archaebacteria) the outermost cell envelope component is composed of a regularly structured protein surface layer (S-layer). The two-dimensional S-layer from Bacillus coagulans E38-66 and Bacillus sphaericus CCM2177 has been investigated by SFM at molecular resolution under physiological conditions (i.e., in buffer solution). We find the E38-66 S-layer lattice to be oblique with lattice parameters of a = 9-10 nm, b = 7-8 nm and gamma = 80 degrees -90 degrees (E38-66). The CCM2177 lattice is square with a = 12-14 nm, in good agreement with TEM data. We have used the unique possibility of the SFM to study the kinematics of biological processes and have performed experiments on the adhesion of polyclonal antibodies to the recrystallized E38-66 protein layer on a time scale of about two to ten seconds per image frame. This represents a first step in directly visualizing molecular recognition reactions.

Light-induced activation and synchronization of the cytochrome P-450 dependent monooxygenase system.

The light-induced enhancement of the 7-ethoxycoumarin-O-deethylase activity was measured in a reconstituted system, consisting of the enzyme P-450PB-B and the NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase. The relative increase of the activity was about 15%. It is shown that the product release process is accelerated by light. The phases of the catalytic cycle of 2 x 10(12) protein complexes were locked by periodic application of light pulses (0.1 s duration, 1.32 s repetition time, and 390-470 nm, 0.27 joule/nmol P-450). More than 80% of the active reconstituted enzyme complexes (= "molecular machines") worked in phase after a few light pulses. The phase relation continued even after switching off the light pulses. The catalytic cycle time was 1.54 s, giving a turnover number of 39 min-1. The turnover number, as determined from the enzyme activity under optimum conditions, was 39 min-1. Due to the dissociation constant of the P-450PB-B:NADPH-P-450 reductase complexes [3] only 24% of the proteins were in the active (= working) state under the conditions used. The lifetime of this complexes is larger than 6 s since more than 4 cycles of the free running enzyme can be observed. This is the first report, that all catalytic active complexes in the test tube can be synchronized by an external light source, if the right repetition time of the pulses is chosen, so that all these "molecular machines" work in phase.