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Updated: Aug 11, 2026
Sub-nanometer Resolution Imaging with Amplitude-modulation Atomic Force Microscopy in Liquid
Published on: December 20, 2016
Application of atomic force microscopy in blood research
Xiao-Long Ji1, Ya-Min Ma, Tong Yin
1Institute of Nanomedicine, General Hospital of Chinese People's Armed Police Forces, Beijing 100039, China. xlji@greenbeijing.com
Aim:
To find suitable solutions having lesser granules and keeping erythrocytes in normal shapes under atomic force microscopy (AFM).
Methods:
Eight kinds of solutions, 1% formaldehyde, PBS buffer (pH7.2), citrate buffer (pH 6.0), 0.9% NaCl, 5% dextrose, TAE, 1640 medium and 5% EDTA-K2, were selected from commonly used laboratory solutions, and venous blood from a healthy human volunteer was drawn and anticoagulated with EDTA-K2. Before scanned by AFM (NanoScopeIIIa SPM, Digital Instruments, Santa Barbara, CA), a kind of intermixture was deposited on freshly cleaved mica and then dried in the constant temperature cabinet (37 degrees).
Results:
One percent formaldehyde, citrate buffer, 5% dextrose, TAE, were found to keep human erythrocytes in normal shape with few particles. Processed by these solutions, fine structures of human erythrocyte membrane were obtained.
Conclusion:
One percent formaldehyde, citrate buffer, 5% dextrose and TAE may be applied to dispose erythrocytes in AFM. The results may offer meaningful data for clinical diagnosis of blood by AFM.
