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Scanning Probe Microscopy Unit

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Emilios Dimitriadis
Staff Scientist

The Scanning Probe Microscopy Unit of the BEPS Shared Resource specializes in the following:

  • Sub-nm resolution imaging of molecular complexes, supported lipid bilayers, cells, and tissues
  • Molecular recognition, protein unfolding
  • Force spectroscopy, visco-elastic properties
  • Simultaneous, co-localized AFM and fluorescence (including TIRF and confocal) microscopy
  • Mathematical modeling, finite element analysis

We are located in Building 13 on the NIH campus.

Atomic Force Imaging and Spectroscopy

AFM:

  • Sub-nm resolution imaging of macromolecular complexes (including protein-protein, protein-DNA, and/or RNA), supported lipid bilayers, cells and tissues under ambient conditions
  • Force spectroscopy:  nano-indentation strategies to map viscoelastic, adhesion and other properties at nm resolution (including single molecules, lipid bilayers, live cells and tissues)
  • Studies of protein unfolding

Molecular Recognition: Antigen recognition by binding events with antibody-functionalized probes. Immuno-AFM: Molecular recognition of protein-antibody complexes by direct AFM imaging. Co-localized immuno-fluorescence and immuno-AFM.

Mathematical Modeling: Mathematical modeling of biophysical systems, image analysis methodologies, finite element analysis.

Auditory Mechanics:

Project examples

Nucleus mechanical properties of HMGN5 over-expressing cells (Dr. M. Bustin, CCR, NCI)

Microscopic image of a cell and a figure with results next to it

Cell visco-elastic properties were measured on live cells with the AFM

Novel DNA-RNA complexes (Dr. S. Adhya, CCR, NCI)

Novel bacterial RNA binds and bridges DNA double-strands

 

 

 

 

 

 

Novel bacterial RNA binds and bridges DNA double-strands

Emilios Dimitriadis [Author]