Seeing protein structure with an AFM

Gina Miller writes "Physics News Update (26 March 2002) reports that researchers from Case Western Reserve University have developed a computational technique to get a sharper picture of a protein structure from an atomic force microscope (AFM) image. Because the region of an AFM tip that contacts the protein during imaging is typically about the same size as the protein molecule, the image that is obtained is too low resolution to reveal the structure of the molecule. Studying a cartilage protein called aggrecan, the researchers combined in their image processing technique data from the AFM, from the genomic sequence of the protein, and from transmission electron microscopy to yield a refined structure allowing them to identify certain elements of the 3-D structure of the protein.