Proteins often exist in different conformations as they work. Instead, it uses an exquisitely tiny, oscillating probe to “feel” the surface of the molecule and thus construct an image of it-much as a blind person constructs mental images by touch.ĪFM has the key advantage that it can continuously scan the surface of a protein, in theory at high enough speed to record changes in the shape or “conformation” of the protein.
#Raster calculation how to#
“This will allow us to record protein dynamics that cannot be seen with current technology but can be crucial to understanding how these proteins work and how to target them with drugs.”ĪFM is different from most other types of microscopy in that it doesn’t illuminate molecules of interest with photons of light or electrons.
Simon Scheuring, professor of physiology and biophysics in anesthesiology at Weill Cornell Medicine. “We’re very excited about this award and this project-our aim is to improve the speed of AFM ‘movies’ by two orders of magnitude over current commercial technology,” said project leader Dr. Keck Foundation supports outstanding science, engineering and medical research. One of the nation’s largest philanthropic organizations, the W. Keck Foundation was established in 1954 in Los Angeles by William Myron Keck, founder of The Superior Oil Company. Keck Foundation will fund an ambitious project, led by Weill Cornell Medicine, to develop a next-generation, high-speed atomic-force microscope (AFM), capable of capturing the dynamics of proteins in unprecedented detail. A three-year, million-dollar grant from the W.M.