Nondestructive Imaging of Individual Biomolecules

Germann, Matthias; Latychevskaia, Tatiana; Escher, Conrad; Fink, Hans‐Werner

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.104.095501

Cited by 51 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…4,5 We have recently demonstrated that electrons with kinetic energies in the range of 50-200 eV do not cause radiation damage to biomolecules, enabling the investigation of an individual molecule for an extended period of time. 6 Since the electron wavelength associated with this kinetic energy range is between 0.86 Å (for 200 eV) and 1.7 Å (for 50 eV), low-energy electrons have the potential for nondestructive imaging of single biomolecules 7,8 and in particular individual proteins at atomic resolution.…”

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Non-destructive imaging of an individual protein

et al. 2012

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The mode of action of proteins is to a large extent given by their ability to adopt different conformations. This is why imaging single biomolecules at atomic resolution is one of the ultimate goals of biophysics and structural biology. The existing protein database has emerged from X-ray crystallography, NMR or cryo-TEM investigations. However, these tools all require averaging over a large number of proteins and thus over different conformations. This of course results in the loss of structural information. Likewise it has been shown that even the emergent X-FEL technique will not get away without averaging over a large quantity of molecules. Here we report the first recordings of a protein at sub-nanometer resolution obtained from one individual ferritin by means of low-energy electron holography. One single protein could be imaged for an extended period of time without any sign of radiation damage. Since ferritin exhibits an iron core, the holographic reconstructions could also be cross-validated against TEM images of the very same molecule by imaging the iron cluster inside the molecule while the protein shell is decomposed

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Non-destructive imaging of an individual protein

et al. 2012

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“…However, it requires Angstrom wavelengths radiation that does not destroy a single molecule before sufficient elastic scattering events have been recorded. It turns out that low-energy electrons fulfill these requirements as has recently been shown [1]. Another prerequisite for such a single molecule experiment is the ability to detect or recover the phase information to attain a one to one relation between diffraction pattern and structure of the molecule.…”

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confidence: 93%

Coherent low-energy electron diffraction on individual nanometer sized objects

2011

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“…Experimental results suggest that DNA is a hardy substance that withstands electron radiation with electron energies in the range from 60 to 230 eV, despite a vast dose of 10 8 electrons/nm 2 accumulated over more than one hour [20]. A high electron dose is critical for achieving high throughput, as throughput scales directly with electron dose.…”

Section: Dna Sequencing By Imagingmentioning

confidence: 99%

A novel low energy electron microscope for DNA sequencing and surface analysis

et al. 2014

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Monochromatic, aberration-corrected, dual-beam low energy electron microscopy (MAD-LEEM) is a novel technique that is directed towards imaging nanostructures and surfaces with sub-nanometer resolution. The technique combines a monochromator, a mirror aberration corrector, an energy filter, and dual beam illumination in a single instrument. The monochromator reduces the energy spread of the illuminating electron beam, which significantly improves spectroscopic and spatial resolution. Simulation results predict that the novel aberration corrector design will eliminate the second rank chromatic and third and fifth order spherical aberrations, thereby improving the resolution into the sub-nanometer regime at landing energies as low as one hundred electron-Volts. The energy filter produces a beam that can extract detailed information about the chemical composition and local electronic states of non-periodic objects such as nanoparticles, interfaces, defects, and macromolecules. The dual flood illumination eliminates charging effects that are generated when a conventional LEEM is used to image insulating specimens. A potential application for MAD-LEEM is in DNA sequencing, which requires high resolution to distinguish the individual bases and high speed to reduce the cost. The MAD-LEEM approach images the DNA with low electron impact energies, which provides nucleobase contrast mechanisms without organometallic labels. Furthermore, the micron-size field of view when combined with imaging on the fly provides long read lengths, thereby reducing the demand on assembling the sequence. Experimental results from bulk specimens with immobilized single-base oligonucleotides demonstrate that base specific contrast is available with reflected, photo-emitted, and Auger electrons. Image contrast simulations of model rectangular features mimicking the individual nucleotides in a DNA strand have been developed to translate measurements of contrast on bulk DNA to the detectability of individual DNA bases in a sequence.

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Nondestructive Imaging of Individual Biomolecules

Cited by 51 publications

References 8 publications

Non-destructive imaging of an individual protein

Non-destructive imaging of an individual protein

Coherent low-energy electron diffraction on individual nanometer sized objects

A novel low energy electron microscope for DNA sequencing and surface analysis

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