Asylum Research Webinar: Direct Visualization of Biomolecular Reactions and Assemblies

Description

Direct observation of biomolecular interactions and assembly requires high spatiotemporal resolution in a physiological environment. High-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM), as enabled by the Asylum Research Cypher VRS video-rate AFM, provides a unique solution. Applications scientist Jonathan Moffat provides a brief introduction to high-speed AFM capabilities and share some new technology innovations from Asylum Research. Researcher Jim De Yoreo then shares work by his group that is using the Cypher VRS to help understand biomolecular assembly processes.

Dr. De Yoreo shows how HS-AFM combined with statistical analysis can deliver a quantitative understanding of protein self-assembly. Self-assembled protein structures exhibit a wide range of motifs that enable complex functions underlying cellular processes. Although primary sequence dictates the governing interactions, function emerges from their mesoscale organization. Understanding the energetic controls and assembly pathways requires an ability to probe dynamic events as proteins diffuse and interact, which only HS-AFM can provide.

In this webcast, the speakers explore:

• What types of single molecule research can video-rate AFM enable?
• What levels of spatial and temporal resolution can video-rate AFM achieve?

• How can video-rate AFM studies complement other techniques in biochemistry and biophysics?

   

About the speakers:

Dr. Jonathan Moffat Applications Scientist Oxford Instruments Asylum Research Inc.

Jonathan Moffat received his Ph.D. in nanoscience from the University of East Anglia and was a post-doctoral research associate at University College London. He has 13 years of experience in working with AFM systems and has been an applications scientist at Oxford Instruments since 2013.

Dr. Jim De Yoreo Chief Scientist for Materials Science, Physical and Computational Sciences at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Affiliate Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, at the University of Washington

Dr. Yoreo's research spans a range of materials-related disciplines, focusing recently on interactions, assembly, and crystallization in both inorganic and biomolecular systems. In addition to positions at PNNL and UW, he is also Co-Director of the Northwest Institute for Materials Physics, Chemistry and Technology.