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.
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Microscopy: Pogo-stick pictures. Nature 458, 11 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/458011c
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/458011c