Atomic Force Microscopy of the Submolecular Architecture of Hydrated Ocular Mucins

High-resolution atomic force microscopy has been applied to the imaging of intact human ocular mucins in a near-physiological buffer. The mucins displayed a range of lengths from several hundred nanometers to several microns. By varying the ionic composition of the imaging environment, it was possib...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biophysical journal 1999-07, Vol.77 (1), p.533-541
Main Authors: McMaster, T.J., Berry, M., Corfield, A.P., Miles, M.J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biopolymers - chemistry
Chromatography, Gel
Conjunctiva - chemistry
Electrophoresis, Agar Gel
Eyes & eyesight
Glycosylation
Humans
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
Microscopes
Microscopy, Atomic Force
Molecular biology
Molecules
Mucins - chemistry
Mucins - ultrastructure
Oligosaccharides - chemistry
Particle Size
Physics
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Summary:High-resolution atomic force microscopy has been applied to the imaging of intact human ocular mucins in a near-physiological buffer. The mucins displayed a range of lengths from several hundred nanometers to several microns. By varying the ionic composition of the imaging environment, it was possible to image molecules rigidly fixed to the substrate and the motion of single molecules across the substrate. From static molecular images, high-resolution line profiles show a variation of up to ±0.75nm in thickness along the molecule. This variation is localized in regions of several tens of nanometers. It is interpreted in terms of the varying glycosylation along the mucin and is consistent with the known size of oligosaccharides in ocular mucins. The dynamic images indicate the possibility of following mucin interactions in situ.
ISSN:0006-3495
1542-0086
DOI:10.1016/S0006-3495(99)76910-9