title: Comparison of Atomic Force Microscopy and Scanning Ion Conductance Microscopy for Live Cell Imaging.
abstract: Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning ion conductance microscopy (SICM) are excellent and commonly used techniques for imaging the topography of living cells with high resolution. We present a direct comparison of AFM and SICM for imaging microvilli, which are small features on the surface of living cells, and for imaging the shape of whole cells. The imaging quality on microvilli increased significantly after cell fixation for AFM, whereas for SICM it remained constant. The apparent shape of whole cells in the case of AFM depended on the imaging force, which deformed the cell. In the case of SICM, cell deformations were avoided, owing to the contact-free imaging mechanism. We estimated that the lateral resolution on living cells is limited by the cell's elastic modulus for AFM, while it is not for SICM. By long-term, time-lapse imaging of microvilli dynamics, we showed that the imaging quality decreased with time for AFM, while it remained constant for SICM.
authors.affiliation: †Institute of Applied Physics, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Seifert
authors.affiliation: †Institute of Applied Physics, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rheinlaender
authors.affiliation: ‡Division of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, U.K.|§School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, London, U.K.
authors.forename: Pavel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Novak
authors.affiliation: ‡Division of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, U.K.
authors.forename: Yuri E
authors.initials: YE
authors.lastname: Korchev
authors.affiliation: †Institute of Applied Physics, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Tilman E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Schäffer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002470:Cell Survival; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004566:Electrodes; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology*; D051379:Mice; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D020527:Microscopy, Scanning Probe; D014982:Xenopus laevis