Without losing its high resolution, high-speed atomic force microscope (HS-AFM) represents a perfect combinationof scanning speed and precision and allows real-time and in situ observation of the dynamic processes in a biological system atboth the cellular and molecular levels. By combining the extremely high temporal resolution with the spatial resolution andcoupling with other advanced technologies, HS-AFM shows promising prospects for applications in life sciences such as cellbiology. In this review, we summarize the latest progress of HS-AFM in the field of cell biology, and discuss the impact ofenvironmental factors on conformation dynamics of DNA, the binding processes between DNA and protein, the domainchanges of membrane proteins, motility of myosin, and surface structure changes of living cells.
快速原子力显微镜在不损失高分辨率的情况下，其扫描速度与检测精度达到了完美结合，在细胞和分子水平上实现了对生物体系动态过程的实时表征。这种超高时间分辨率和空间分辨率的结合，以及与其它先进技术的联用，为细胞生物学等生命科学领域的研究展现了诱人的前景。本文对快速原子力显微镜在细胞生物学领域的新进展进行了综述，包括环境因素对DNA构象的影响、DNA与蛋白质结合的过程、膜蛋白结构域的变化、肌球蛋白的运动、活细胞表面结构的变化等。
Keywords: DNA conformation; cell biology; dynamic change; high-speed atomic force microscopy.