An AFM Method for in situ Probing Membrane Proteins under Physiological Condition

摘要

Although membrane proteins are the main drug targets, the study of cell membrane proteins in situ at the molecular level is difficult due to the current technical limitations. The recent development of atomic force microscopy (AFM) opens a new avenue to study the functionalities of cell membrane proteins. In this paper, techniques involving the use of AFM to probe biomolecules are introduced. The techniques for characterizing specific single receptor using the functionalized AFM tip is discussed. An example of probing angiotensin II type 1 (AT1) receptor by functionalized AFM tip is also given in this paper.