title: AFM visualization of clathrin triskelia under fluid and in air.
abstract: Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is used to characterize the structure and interactions of clathrin triskelia. Time sequence images of individual, wet triskelia resting on mica surfaces clearly demonstrate conformational fluctuations of the triskelia. AFM of dried samples yields images having nanometric resolution comparable to that obtainable by electron microscopy of shadowed samples. Increased numbers of triskelion dimers and assembly intermediates, as well as structures having dimensions similar to those of clathrin cages, are observed when the triskelia were immersed in a low salt, low pH buffer. These entities have been quantified by AFM protein volume computation.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Bioengineering and Physical Science, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institutes of Health, DHHS, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
authors.forename: Svetlana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kotova
authors.forename: Kondury
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Prasad
authors.forename: Paul D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Eileen M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Lafer
authors.forename: Ralph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nossal
authors.forename: Albert J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Jin
mesh_terms: D000388:Air; D000538:Aluminum Silicates / Q000737:chemistry; D002966:Clathrin / Q000737:chemistry*; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D011487:Protein Conformation; D055503:Protein Multimerization
chemical_list: D000538:Aluminum Silicates; D002966:Clathrin; C011934:mica