Abstract
We report here the direct observation of high resolution structures of assemblies of Alzheimer Β -amyloid oligomers and monomers using liquid atomic force microscopy (AFM). Visualization of nanoscale features of AΒ oligomers (also known as ADDLs) was carried out in tapping mode AFM in F12 solution. Our results indicate that ADDL preparations exist in solution primarily as a mixture of monomeric peptides and higher molecular mass oligomers. Our study clearly reveals that the size and shape of these oligomer aggregates exhibit a pronounced dependence on concentration. These studies show that wet AFM enables direct assessment of oligomers in physiological fluids and suggests that this method may be developed to visualize AΒ oligomers from human fluids.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 183701 |
Journal | Applied Physics Letters |
Volume | 95 |
Issue number | 18 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2009 |
Funding
This work was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation Award No. EEC-0647560 (WLK) and National Institutes of Health-National Institute on Aging Grant Nos. AG022547 and AG029460 (WLK). AFM imaging was performed in the NIFTI facility in the NUANCE center at Northwestern University, which is supported by NSF-NSEC, NSF-MRSEC, Keck Foundation, the State of Illinois, and Northwestern University.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)