title: In-vivo high resolution AFM topographic imaging of Caenorhabditis elegans reveals previously unreported surface structures of cuticle mutants.
abstract: Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a powerful method for topographic imaging of surfaces with nanometer resolution. AFM offers significant advantages over scanning electron microscopy (SEM) including the acquisition of quantitative 3D-images and biomechanical information. More importantly, for in-vivo biological imaging, AFM does not require sample dehydration/labeling. We show for the first time high-resolution topographical images of the cuticle of the model organism C. elegans under physiological conditions using AFM. C. elegans is used extensively for drug screening and to study pathogen adherence in innate immunity; both applications highly depend on the integrity of the nematode's cuticle. Mutations affecting both drug adsorption and pathogen clearance have been proposed to relate to changes in the cuticle structure, but never visually examined in high resolution. In this study we use AFM to visualize the topography of wild-type adult C. elegans as well as several cuticle collagen mutants and describe previously unseen anatomical differences.
authors.affiliation: UCL TouchLab, Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK. Electronic address: c.essmann@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Clara L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Essmann
authors.affiliation: UCL TouchLab, Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Muna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elmi
authors.affiliation: UCL TouchLab, Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK; Analytical Science Division, National Physical Laboratory, UK.
authors.forename: Mike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.affiliation: UCL TouchLab, Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Giridhar M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Anand
authors.affiliation: UCL TouchLab, Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Vijay M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Pawar
authors.affiliation: UCL TouchLab, Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK; MIT Touchlab, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Mandayam A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Srinivasan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D003094:Collagen; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force
chemical_list: D003094:Collagen
keywords: Atomic force microscopy; C. elegans; Collagens; Cuticle mutants; Nano-scale topography