Abstract
By using three physical techniques (atomic force microscopy (AFM), laser tweezers, and Raman spectroscopy), many excellent works in single-cell/molecule research have been accomplished. In this review, we present a brief introduction to the principles of these three techniques, and their capabilities toward single-cell/molecule research are highlighted. Afterward, the advances in single-cell/molecule research that have been facilitated by these three techniques are described. Following this, their complementary assets for single-cell/molecule research are analyzed, and the necessity of integrating the functions of these three techniques into one instrument is proposed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Deniz, A. A., Mukhopadhyay, S., & Lemke, E. A. (2008). Single-molecule biophysics: At the interface of biology, physics and chemistry. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 5, 15.
Müller, D. J., & Dufrêne, Y. F. (2008). Atomic force microscopy as a multifunctional molecular toolbox in nanobiotechnology. Nature Nanotechnology, 3, 261–269.
Hormeno, S., & Arias-Gonzalez, J. R. (2006). Exploring mechanochemical processes in the cell with optical tweezers. Biology of the Cell, 98, 679–695.
Kneipp, J., Kneipp, H., & Kneipp, K. (2008). SERS—a single-molecule and nanoscale tool for bioanalytics. Chemical Society Reviews, 37, 1052–1060.
Neuman, K. C., & Nagy, A. (2008). Single-molecule force spectroscopy: Optical tweezers, magnetic tweezers and atomic force microscopy. Nature Methods, 5, 491–505.
Muller, D. J. (2008). AFM: A nanotool in membrane biology. Biochemistry, 47, 7986–7998.
Alsteens, D., Dague, E., Verbelen, C., Andre, G., Dupres, V., & Dufrêne, Y. F. (2009). Nanoscale imaging of microbial pathogens using atomic force microscopy. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology, 1, 168–180.
Baumann, R. P., Schranz, M., & Hampp, N. (2010). Bending of purple membranes in dependence on the pH analyzed by AFM and single molecule force spectroscopy. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 12, 4329–4335.
Yu, J., Bippes, C. A., Hand, G. M., Muller, D. J., & Sosinsky, G. E. (2007). Aminosulfonate modulated pH-induced conformational changes in connexin26 hemichannels. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 282, 8895.
Dague, E., Alsteens, D., Latgé, J. P., & Dufrêne, Y. F. (2008). High-resolution cell surface dynamics of germinating Aspergillus fumigatus conidia. Biophysical Journal, 94, 656–660.
Müller, D. J., Wu, N., & Palczewski, K. (2008). Vertebrate membrane proteins: Structure, function, and insights from biophysical approaches. Pharmacological Reviews, 60, 43.
Krieg, M., Arboleda-Estudillo, Y., Puech, P. H., Käfer, J., Graner, F., Müller, D. J., et al. (2008). Tensile forces govern germ-layer organization in zebrafish. Nature cell biology, 10, 429–436.
Dague, E., Alsteens, D., Latge, J. P., Verbelen, C., Raze, D., Baulard, A. R., et al. (2007). Chemical force microscopy of single live cells. Nano Letters, 7, 3026–3030.
Alsteens, D., Dague, E., Rouxhet, P. G., Baulard, A. R., & Dufrêne, Y. F. (2007). Direct measurement of hydrophobic forces on cell surfaces using AFM. Langmuir, 23, 11977–11979.
Rico, F., Roca-Cusachs, P., Sunyer, R., Farré, R., & Navajas, D. (2007). Cell dynamic adhesion and elastic properties probed with cylindrical atomic force microscopy cantilever tips. Journal of Molecular Recognition, 20, 459–466.
Cuerrier, C. M., Lebel, R., & Grandbois, M. (2007). Single cell transfection using plasmid decorated AFM probes. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 355, 632–636.
Cross, S. E., Jin, Y. S., Rao, J., & Gimzewski, J. K. (2007). Nanomechanical analysis of cells from cancer patients. Nature Nanotechnology, 2, 780–783.
Suresh, S. (2007). Nanomedicine: Elastic clues in cancer detection. Nature Nanotechnology, 2, 748–749.
Li, Q. S., Lee, G. Y. H., Ong, C. N., & Lim, C. T. (2008). AFM indentation study of breast cancer cells. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 374, 609–613.
Kienberger, F., Costa, L. T., Zhu, R., Kada, G., Reithmayer, M., Chtcheglova, L., et al. (2007). Dynamic force microscopy imaging of plasmid DNA and viral RNA. Biomaterials, 28, 2403–2411.
Hamon, L., Pastré, D., Dupaigne, P., Le Breton, C., Le Cam, E., & Piétrement, O. (2007). High-resolution AFM imaging of single-stranded DNA-binding (SSB) protein—DNA complexes. Nucleic Acids Research, 35, e58.
Elie-Caille, C., Severin, F., Helenius, J., Howard, J., Muller, D. J., & Hyman, A. A. (2007). Straight GDP-tubulin protofilaments form in the presence of taxol. Current Biology, 17, 1765–1770.
Bash, R., Wang, H., Anderson, C., Yodh, J., Hager, G., Lindsay, S. M., et al. (2006). AFM imaging of protein movements: histone H2A–H2B release during nucleosome remodeling. FEBS Letters, 580, 4757–4761.
Li, B. S., Sattin, B. D., & Goh, M. C. (2006). Direct and real-time visualization of the disassembly of a single RecA-DNA-ATPγS complex using AFM imaging in fluid. Nano Letters, 6, 1474–1478.
Zhang, W., Dillingham, M. S., Thomas, C. D., Allen, S., Roberts, C. J., & Soultanas, P. (2007). Directional loading and stimulation of PcrA helicase by the replication initiator protein RepD. Journal of Molecular Biology, 371, 336–348.
Yokokawa, M., Wada, C., Ando, T., Sakai, N., Yagi, A., Yoshimura, S. H., et al. (2006). Fast-scanning atomic force microscopy reveals the ATP/ADP-dependent conformational changes of GroEL. The EMBO Journal, 25, 4567–4576.
Kienberger, F., Ebner, A., Gruber, H. J., & Hinterdorfer, P. (2006). Molecular recognition imaging and force spectroscopy of single biomolecules. Accounts of Chemical Research, 39, 29–36.
Hinterdorfer, P., & Dufrêne, Y. F. (2006). Detection and localization of single molecular recognition events using atomic force microscopy. Nature Methods, 3, 347–355.
Puntheeranurak, T., Wildling, L., Gruber, H. J., Kinne, R. K. H., & Hinterdorfer, P. (2006). Ligands on the string: single-molecule AFM studies on the interaction of antibodies and substrates with the Na+–glucose co-transporter SGLT1 in living cells. Journal of Cell Science, 119, 2960–2967.
Gilbert, Y., Deghorain, M., Wang, L., Xu, B., Pollheimer, P. D., Gruber, H. J., et al. (2007). Single-molecule force spectroscopy and imaging of the vancomycin/D-Ala-D-Ala interaction. Nano Letters, 7, 796–801.
Sapra, K. T., Besir, H., Oesterhelt, D., & Muller, D. J. (2006). Characterizing molecular interactions in different bacteriorhodopsin assemblies by single-molecule force spectroscopy. Journal of Molecular Biology, 355, 640–650.
Kedrov, A., Ziegler, C., & Muller, D. J. (2006). Differentiating ligand and inhibitor interactions of a single antiporter. Journal of Molecular Biology, 362, 925–932.
Liu, N., Peng, B., Lin, Y., Su, Z., Niu, Z., Wang, Q., et al. (2010). Pulling genetic RNA out of tobacco mosaic virus using single-molecule force spectroscopy. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 132, 11036–11038.
Dietz, H., Berkemeier, F., Bertz, M., & Rief, M. (2006). Anisotropic deformation response of single protein molecules. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 103, 12724.
Lee, G., Abdi, K., Jiang, Y., Michaely, P., Bennett, V., & Marszalek, P. E. (2006). Nanospring behaviour of ankyrin repeats. Nature, 440, 246–249.
Linke, W. A., & Grützner, A. (2008). Pulling single molecules of titin by AFM—recent advances and physiological implications. Pflügers Archiv—European Journal of Physiology, 456, 101–115.
Kedrov, A., Appel, M., Baumann, H., Ziegler, C., & Muller, D. J. (2008). Examining the dynamic energy landscape of an antiporter upon inhibitor binding. Journal of Molecular Biology, 375, 1258–1266.
Tsapikouni, T. S., & Missirlis, Y. F. (2010). Measuring the force of single protein molecule detachment from surfaces with AFM. Colloids and Surfaces. B: Biointerfaces, 75, 252–259.
Kufer, S. K., Puchner, E. M., Gumpp, H., Liedl, T., & Gaub, H. E. (2008). Single-molecule cut-and-paste surface assembly. Science, 319, 594.
Titushkin, I., & Cho, M. (2006). Distinct membrane mechanical properties of human mesenchymal stem cells determined using laser optical tweezers. Biophysical Journal, 90, 2582–2591.
Xu, G., & Shao, J. Y. (2008). Human neutrophil surface protrusion under a point load: location independence and viscoelasticity. American Journal of Physiology. Cell Physiology, 295, C1434.
Wei, M. T., Zaorski, A., Yalcin, H. C., Wang, J., Hallow, M., Ghadiali, S. N., et al. (2008). A comparative study of living cell micromechanical properties by oscillatory optical tweezers. Optics Express, 16, 8594–8603.
Nascimento, J. M., Shi, L. Z., Chandsawangbhuwana, C., Tam, J., Durrant, B. S., Botvinick, E. L., et al. (2008). Use of laser tweezers to analyze sperm motility and mitochondrial membrane potential (Journal Paper). Journal of Biomedical Optics, 13, 014002.
Volpe, G., Singh, G. P., & Petrov, D. (2006). Dynamics of a growing cell in an optical trap. Applied Physics Letters, 88, 231106.
Rancourt-Grenier, S., Wei, M. T., Bai, J. J., Chiou, A., Bareil, P. P., Duval, P. L., et al. (2010). Dynamic deformation of red blood cell in dual-trap optical tweezers. Optics Express, 18, 10462–10472.
Allioux-Guérin, M., Icard-Arcizet, D., Durieux, C., Hénon, S., Gallet, F., Mevel, J. C., et al. (2009). Spatiotemporal analysis of cell response to a rigidity gradient: a quantitative study using multiple optical tweezers. Biophysical Journal, 96, 238–247.
Abbondanzieri, E. A., Shaevitz, J. W., & Block, S. M. (2005). Picocalorimetry of transcription by RNA polymerase. Biophysical Journal, 89, L61–L63.
McNerney, G. P., Hübner, W., Chen, B. K., & Huser, T. (2010). Manipulating CD4+ T cells by optical tweezers for the initiation of cell-cell transfer of HIV-1. Journal of Biophotonics, 3, 216–223.
Dame, R. T., Noom, M. C., & Wuite, G. J. L. (2006). Bacterial chromatin organization by H-NS protein unravelled using dual DNA manipulation. Nature, 444, 387–390.
Cecconi, C., Shank, E. A., Bustamante, C., & Marqusee, S. (2005). Direct observation of the three-state folding of a single protein molecule. Science, 309, 2057.
Woodside, M. T., Anthony, P. C., Behnke-Parks, W. M., Larizadeh, K., Herschlag, D., & Block, S. M. (2006). Direct measurement of the full, sequence-dependent folding landscape of a nucleic acid. Science, 314, 1001.
Woodside, M. T., Behnke-Parks, W. M., Larizadeh, K., Travers, K., Herschlag, D., & Block, S. M. (2006). Nanomechanical measurements of the sequence-dependent folding landscapes of single nucleic acid hairpins. PNAS, 103, 6190–6195.
Li, P. T. X., Bustamante, C., & Tinoco, I. (2007). Real-time control of the energy landscape by force directs the folding of RNA molecules. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104, 7039.
Moffitt, J. R., Chemla, Y. R., Aathavan, K., Grimes, S., Jardine, P. J., Anderson, D. L., et al. (2009). Intersubunit coordination in a homomeric ring ATPase. Nature, 457, 446–450.
Galburt, E. A., Grill, S. W., Wiedmann, A., Lubkowska, L., Choy, J., Nogales, E., et al. (2007). Backtracking determines the force sensitivity of RNAP II in a factor-dependent manner. Nature, 446, 820–823.
Herbert, K. M., La Porta, A., Wong, B. J., Mooney, R. A., Neuman, K. C., Landick, R., et al. (2006). Sequence-resolved detection of pausing by single RNA polymerase molecules. Cell, 125, 1083–1094.
Dumont, S., Cheng, W., Serebrov, V., Beran, R. K., Tinoco, I., Pyle, A. M., et al. (2006). RNA translocation and unwinding mechanism of HCV NS3 helicase and its coordination by ATP. Nature, 439, 105–108.
Dalal, R. V., Larson, M. H., Neuman, K. C., Gelles, J., Landick, R., & Block, S. M. (2006). Pulling on the nascent RNA during transcription does not alter kinetics of elongation or ubiquitous pausing. Molecular Cell, 23, 231–239.
Maier, B., Chen, I., Dubnau, D., & Sheetz, M. P. (2004). DNA transport into Bacillus subtilis requires proton motive force to generate large molecular forces. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, 11, 643–649.
Larson, M. H., Greenleaf, W. J., Landick, R., & Block, S. M. (2008). Applied force reveals mechanistic and energetic details of transcription termination. Cell, 132, 971–982.
Mao, H., & Ricardo, A. G. (2005). Temperature control methods in a laser tweezers system. Biophysical Journal, 89, 1308–1316.
Tam, J. M., Biran, I., & Walt, D. R. (2006). Parallel microparticle manipulation using an imaging fiber-bundle-based optical tweezer array and a digital micromirror device. Applied Physics Letters, 89, 194101.
Konorov, S. O., Glover, C. H., Piret, J. M., Bryan, J., Schulze, H. G., Blades, M. W., et al. (2007). In situ analysis of living embryonic stem cells by coherent anti-Stokes Raman microscopy. Analytical Chemistry, 79, 7221–7225.
Chan, J. W., Lieu, D. K., Huser, T., & Li, R. A. (2009). Label-free separation of human embryonic stem cells and their cardiac derivatives using Raman spectroscopy. Analytical Chemistry, 81, 1324–1331.
Oshima, Y., Shinzawa, H., Takenaka, T., Furihata, C., & Sato, H. (2010). Discrimination analysis of human lung cancer cells associated with histological type and malignancy using Raman spectroscopy. Journal of Biomedical Optics, 15, 017009.
Kaczor, A., Turnaub, K., & Baranskaa, M. (2011). In situ Raman imaging of astaxanthin in a single microalgal cell. Analyst, 136, 1109–1112.
Hu, Q., Tay, L. L., Noestheden, M., & Pezacki, J. P. (2007). Mammalian cell surface imaging with nitrile-functionalized nanoprobes: biophysical characterization of aggregation and polarization anisotropy in SERS imaging. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 129, 14–15.
Kneipp, J., Kneipp, H., McLaughlin, M., Brown, D., & Kneipp, K. (2006). In vivo molecular probing of cellular compartments with gold nanoparticles and nanoaggregates. Nano Letters, 6, 2225–2231.
Li, J. F., Huang, Y. F., Ding, Y., Yang, Z. L., Li, S. B., Zhou, X. S., et al. (2010). Shell-isolated nanoparticle-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. Nature, 464, 392–395.
Inya-Agha, O., Klauke, N., Davies, T., Smith, G., & Cooper, J. M. (2007). Spectroscopic probing of dynamic changes during stimulation and cell remodeling in the single cardiac myocyte. Analytical Chemistry, 79, 4581–4587.
Huang, W. E., Bailey, M. J., Thompson, I. P., Whiteley, A. S., & Spiers, A. J. (2007). Single-cell Raman spectral profiles of Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 reflects in vitro and in planta metabolic history. Microbial Ecology, 53, 414–425.
Qian, X. M., & Nie, S. M. (2008). Single-molecule and single-nanoparticle SERS: from fundamental mechanisms to biomedical applications. Chemical Society Reviews, 37, 912–920.
Delfino, I., Bizzarri, A. R., & Cannistraro, S. (2005). Single-molecule detection of yeast cytochrome C by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. Biophysical Chemistry, 113, 41–51.
Koo, T. W., Chan, S., & Berlin, A. A. (2005). Single-molecule detection of biomolecules by surface-enhanced coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering. Optics Letters, 30, 1024–1026.
Xie, C., Nguyen, N., Zhu, Y., & Li, Y. (2007). Detection of the recombinant proteins in single transgenic microbial cell using laser tweezers and Raman spectroscopy. Analytical Chemistry, 79, 9269–9275.
Chen, D., Shelenkova, L., Li, Y., Kempf, C. R., & Sabelnikov, A. (2009). Laser tweezers Raman spectroscopy potential for studies of complex dynamic cellular processes: single cell bacterial lysis. Analytical Chemistry, 81, 3227–3238.
Chan, J. W., Taylor, D. S., Lane, S. M., Zwerdling, T., Tuscano, J., & Huser, T. (2008). Nondestructive identification of individual leukemia cells by laser trapping Raman spectroscopy. Analytical Chemistry, 80, 2180–2187.
Wu, H., Volponi, J. V., Oliver, A. E., Parikh, A. N., Simmons, B. A., & Singh, S. (2011). In vivo lipidomics using single-cell Raman spectroscopy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108, 3809–3814.
Rong, X., Huang, S. S., Kuang, X. C., & Liu, H. (2010). Real–time detection of single–living pancreatic β–cell by laser tweezers Raman spectroscopy: High glucose stimulation. Biopolymers, 93, 587–594.
Ye A & Zhang Y (2009) Micro-Raman spectroscopy of optically trapped single cell. In SPIE, pp. 750704.
Liu, R., Taylor, D. S., Matthews, D. L., & Chan, J. W. (2010). Parallel analysis of individual biological cells using multifocal laser tweezers Raman spectroscopy. Applied Spectroscopy, 64, 1308–1310.
Zhang, P., Kong, L., Setlow, P., & Li, Y. (2010). Multiple-trap laser tweezers Raman spectroscopy for simultaneous monitoring of the biological dynamics of multiple individual cells. Optics Letters, 35, 3321–3323.
Böhme, R., Richter, M., Cialla, D., Rösch, P., Deckert, V., & Popp, J. (2009). Towards a specific characterisation of components on a cell surface—combined TERS-investigations of lipids and human cells. Journal of Raman Spectroscopy, 40, 1452–1457.
Böhme, R., Cialla, D., Richter, M., Rösch, P., Popp, J., & Deckert, V. (2010). Biochemical imaging below the diffraction limit—probing cellular membrane related structures by tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS). Journal of Biophotonics, 3, 455–461.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by The National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (10974025, 30700181), Young Teacher Culture Foundation of Dalian University of Technology (893228), and the Doctoral Fund of the Ministry of Education of China (20070141055).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wu, Y., Liu, K., Song, K. et al. Three Powerful Research Tools from Single Cells into Single Molecules: AFM, Laser Tweezers, and Raman Spectroscopy. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 165, 485–496 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-011-9267-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-011-9267-2