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High‐resolution atomic‐force microscopy of DNA: the pitch of the double helix
Author(s) -
Jin Mou,
Daniel M. Czajkowsky,
Yong Zhang,
Zhifeng Shao
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/0014-5793(95)00906-p
Subject(s) - bilayer , atomic force microscopy , resolution (logic) , helix (gastropod) , lipid bilayer , crystallography , chemistry , dna , microscopy , materials science , biophysics , nanotechnology , optics , membrane , physics , biology , biochemistry , ecology , artificial intelligence , snail , computer science
Using a cationic lipid bilayer, we show that DNA can be reliably adsorbed to the bilayer surface for atomic force microscopy (AFM) in aqueous buffers at high resolution. The measured width of the dsDNA is close to 2 nm, and a periodic modulation on dsDNA is reproducibly detected by the AFM. The measured period is 3.4 ± 0.4nm, in excellent agreement with the known pitch of the double helix. The right‐handedness of the double helix is directly discernible in high resolution AFM images. Thus, this approach can be readily applied to the study of DNA‐protein interactions, as well as sequence mapping at high resolution.