Credit: P. NOVAK ET AL.

Nature Methods doi:10.1038/nmeth.1306 (2009)

There is as yet no way to produce images that capture the three-dimensional convolutions of a living cell's surface without running the risk of deforming the cell. But a team led by Yuri Korchev of Imperial College London, UK, thinks it has cracked the problem by modifying a technique used on relatively flat surfaces called scanning ion conductance microscopy.

The team's method builds up pictures by measuring changes in the ion flow through a fluid-filled nanopipette when its tip comes close to a cell. The team's innovation involves having the pipette 'hop'— that is, approach the sample from above any of its surface features — rather than scanning across the surface. Their image of a mouse cochlear hair cell is shown below.