Biophysical methods articles within Nature Communications

Featured

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Precise assembly of undecorated colloids demands a clever approach. Here, the authors draw unlikely inspiration from vector graphics to direct colloids into 2D structures, pinning the ends and corners of assembled patterns with optical tweezers and manipulating the segments like vectors.

    • Lingxiang Jiang
    • , Shenyu Yang
    •  & Steve Granick

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Pannexins are oligomeric plasma membrane channels that allow permeation of ions and large molecules. Here the authors show that human Pannexin 1 activation is a multistep event, where modification of each monomer opens the channel to a unique conductance state and fine tunes its activity.

    • Yu-Hsin Chiu
    • , Xueyao Jin
    •  & Douglas A. Bayliss

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Interaction of fibronectin with αv-class and α5β1 integrins results in formation of cell adhesion complexes, but the initial events (<120 s) remain unclear. Here, the authors show that αv-class integrins bind fibronectin faster than α5β1 integrins and subsequently signal to α5ß1 integrins to strengthen the adhesion.

    • Mitasha Bharadwaj
    • , Nico Strohmeyer
    •  & Daniel J. Müller

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nanoscopy of non-adherent cells is currently not possible, due to their movement in solution. Here the authors immobilize and manipulate fixedE. coli by multiple optical traps; their holographic optical tweezers enable dSTORM imaging of orthogonal planes via 3D realignment of the sample.

    • Robin Diekmann
    • , Deanna L. Wolfson
    •  & Thomas Huser

  • Article
    | Open Access

    TRPV are cation channels activated by physical and chemical stimuli. Here the authors show that nicotinamide is a soluble, endogenous agonist for orthologous TRPV channels fromC. elegans and Drosophila, unveiling a metabolic-based regulation for TRPV channel activity.

    • Awani Upadhyay
    • , Aditya Pisupati
    •  & Wendy Hanna-Rose

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Traction force microscopy is an effective method of measuring forces between cells and their environment, but requires removing the cells to obtain a reference image. Here the authors use nanodrip printing of quantum dots into compliant substrates to provide a regular array of fiducial spots, removing the need for a reference image.

    • Martin Bergert
    • , Tobias Lendenmann
    •  & Aldo Ferrari

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tetrameric cationic channels specificity is determined by the sequence and structural conformation of their selectivity filter. Here, the authors show that a cationic channel from Tsukamurella paurometabola is non-selective due to a Ca2+-binding motif within its unusual proline-rich filter.

    • Balasundaresan Dhakshnamoorthy
    • , Ahmed Rohaim
    •  & Benoît Roux

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Acoustophoresis, a method to manipulate individual cells based on their acoustic properties is confounded by a strong dependency on cell size. Here the authors present iso-acoustic focussing, a way to separate cells in a microfluidic chamber according to their effective acoustic impedance, independent of their size.

    • Per Augustsson
    • , Jonas T. Karlsen
    •  & Joel Voldman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The precise rotational manipulation of single cells is technically challenging and relies on the optical, magnetic and electrical properties of the biospecimen. Here the authors develop an acoustic-based, on-chip manipulation method that can rotate single microparticles, cells and organisms.

    • Daniel Ahmed
    • , Adem Ozcelik
    •  & Tony Jun Huang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Dendritic spines located on individual neurons process information, but our understanding of the electrical behaviour of spines is still limited. Here, the authors use voltage-sensitive dye imaging techniques to monitor electrical signals from thin basal spines and show that synapses are not electrically isolated by the spine neck.

    • Marko A. Popovic
    • , Nicholas Carnevale
    •  & Dejan Zecevic

  • Article |

    Trade-offs between life history traits are key to understanding biodiversity. Here, the authors use population genetics models and experimental microbial evolution to show that trade-off geometry can be deduced from fundamental biological principles, and used to predict biodiversity stability.

    • Justin R. Meyer
    • , Ivana Gudelj
    •  & Robert Beardmore

  • Article |

    Particle tracking with ultra-high resolution in optical and magnetic tweezers has so far relied on laser detection through photodiodes. Here, Huhle et al. demonstrate three-dimensional particle tracking with Ångström accuracy and real-time GPU-accelerated data processing at kHz rates using camera-based imaging.

    • Alexander Huhle
    • , Daniel Klaue
    •  & Ralf Seidel

  • Article |

    Monitoring neuronal activity of large populations of neurons at high-temporal and spatial resolution is important to understand neurophysiology but requires improved tools and methods. Here the authors develop a transparent and flexible electrode based on graphene that allows them to combine electrophysiological recordings with calcium imaging.

    • Duygu Kuzum
    • , Hajime Takano
    •  & Brian Litt

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Propagating waves of cortical neuronal activity are implicated in various cognitive processes and have been observed in anaesthetised animals. Here, the authors demonstrate the existence of propagating waves in awake monkeys during visual stimulation, and show that they are mediated by horizontal fibres in the cortex.

    • Lyle Muller
    • , Alexandre Reynaud
    •  & Alain Destexhe

  • Article |

    The direct detection of metabolites secreted by cells can indicate how cellular dynamics affects population development. Here, the authors present an integrated circuit-based method for electrochemical imaging of redox-active signalling molecules with spatial resolution within bacterial colonies.

    • Daniel L. Bellin
    • , Hassan Sakhtah
    •  & Kenneth L. Shepard

  • Article |

    Magnetic stimulation is used therapeutically for neurological disorders, but its effectiveness is hindered by efficacy and safety limitations due to large device sizes. Here the authors show that sub-millimetre, micro-magnetic coils effectively stimulate hamster cochlear neurons, with minimal side effects.

    • Hyun-Joo Park
    • , Giorgio Bonmassar
    •  & John T. Gale

  • Article |

    Optical tweezers based on focused laser beams are widely used for biophysical measurements of single molecules in vitro. Here Zhong et al. use infrared optical tweezers to trap and manipulate red blood cells within subdermal capillaries in living mice.

    • Min-Cheng Zhong
    • , Xun-Bin Wei
    •  & Yin-Mei Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Flexible organic electronic devices have the potential to serve as biosensors in living animals. Khodagholy et al. show that organic transistors can be used to record brain activity in rats and demonstrate that they have a superior signal-to-noise ratio compared with electrodes due to local signal amplification.

    • Dion Khodagholy
    • , Thomas Doublet
    •  & George G. Malliaras

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Seizure activity in the brain is characterized by the recruitment of cortical neuronal activity. Schevon and colleagues study seizure activity in human subjects and find that the recruitment of neurons is hypersynchronous and that there is an intrinsic restraint on the propagation of this activity.

    • Catherine A. Schevon
    • , Shennan A. Weiss
    •  & Andrew J. Trevelyan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The motor protein myosin-V transports cargo along actin filaments, but the biophysical mechanisms by which myosin-V generates force are unclear. Here, optical tweezers and a DNA handle are used to study the forces generated by myosin-V: the mechanism of force generation is found to depend on the load applied.

    • Keisuke Fujita
    • , Mitsuhiro Iwaki
    •  & Toshio Yanagida

  • Article |

    The cochlear amplifier in the inner ear is thought to mediate sensitivity to soft sounds, but this power gain has not been measured directly. Renet aluse an interferometer to measure the volume displacement and velocity of the cochlear partition and demonstrate experimentally that the cochlea amplifies soft sounds.

    • Tianying Ren
    • , Wenxuan He
    •  & Peter G. Gillespie

Browse broader subjects

Browse narrower subjects

Browse Biophysical methods across other nature.com journals