Abstract
Despite the large and well-documented characterization of the microbial cell wall in terms of chemical composition, the determination of the mechanical properties of surface molecules in relation to their function remains a key challenge in cell biology.The emergence of powerful tools allowing molecular manipulations has already revolutionized our understanding of the surface properties of fungal cells. At the frontier between nanophysics and molecular biology, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and more specifically single-molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS), has strongly contributed to our current knowledge of the cell wall organization and nanomechanical properties. However, due to the complexity of the technique, measurements on live cells are still at their infancy.In this chapter, we describe the cell wall composition and recapitulate the principles of AFM as well as the main current methodologies used to perform AFM measurements on live cells, including sample immobilization and tip functionalization.The current status of the progress in probing nanomechanics of the yeast surface is illustrated through three recent breakthrough studies. Determination of the cell wall nanostructure and elasticity is presented through two examples: the mechanical response of mannoproteins from brewing yeasts and elasticity measurements on lacking polysaccharide mutant strains. Additionally, an elegant study on force-induced unfolding and clustering of adhesion proteins located at the cell surface is also presented.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
T.J. Beveridge, Ultrastructure, chemistry and function of the bacterial cell wall. Int. Rev. Cytol. 72, 229–317 (1981)
J.G.H. Wessels, Wall growth, protein excretion and morphogenesis in fungi. New Phytol. 123, 397–413 (1993)
L.J. García-Rodríguez, R. Valle, Á. Durán, C. Roncero, Cell integrity signaling activation in response to hyperosmotic shock in yeast. FEBS Lett. 579, 6186–6190 (2005)
D.E. Levin, Cell wall integrity signaling in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 69, 262–291 (2005)
F.M. Klis, P. Mol, K. Hellingwerf, S. Brul, Dynamics of cell wall structure in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. FEMS Microbiol. Rev. 26, 239–256 (2002)
R. Rodicio, J.J. Heinisch, Together we are strong – cell wall integrity sensors in yeasts. Yeast 27, 531–540 (2010)
A.M. Dranginis, J.M. Rauceo, J.E. Coronado, P.N.A. Lipke, Biochemical guide to yeast adhesins: glycoproteins for social and antisocial occasions. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 71, 282–294 (2007)
R. Lewin, Microbial adhesion is a sticky problem. Science 224, 375–377 (1984)
E.L. Florin, V.T. Moy, H.E. Gaub, Adhesion forces between individual ligand receptor pairs. Science 264, 415–417 (1994)
H.C. Van der Mei, B. Van de Belt-Grotter, H.J. Busscher, Implications of microbial adhesion to hydrocarbons for evaluating cell surface hydrophobicity 2. adhesion mechanisms. Colloids Surf. B. Biointerfaces 5, 117–126 (1995)
P. Sundstrom, Adhesion in Candida spp. Cell. Microbiol. 4, 461–469 (2002)
J.C. Kapteyn, H. Van Den Ende, F.M. Klis, The contribution of cell wall proteins to the organization of the yeast cell wall. Biochim. Biophys. Acta-Gen. Subj. 1426, 373–383 (1999)
M. Osumi, The ultrastructure of yeast: cell wall structure and formation. Micron 29, 207–233 (1998)
J.E Coronado, S. Mneimneh, S.L. Epstein, W.G. Qiu, P.N. Lipke, Conserved processes and lineage-specific proteins in fungal cell wall evolution. Eukaryot. Cell 6, 2269–2277 (2007)
P.N. Lipke, R. Ovalle, Cell wall architecture in yeast: new structure and new challenges. J. Bacteriol. 180, 3735–3740 (1998)
G. Lesage, H. Bussey, Cell wall assembly in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 70, 317–343 (2006)
M.L. Richard, A. Plaine, Comprehensive analysis of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins in Candida albicans. Eukaryot. Cell 6, 119–133 (2007)
R.A. Daniel, J. Errington, Control of cell morphogenesis in bacteria: two distinct ways to make a rod-shaped cell. Cell 113, 767–776 (2003)
R.D. Turner et al. , Peptidoglycan architecture can specify division planes in Staphylococcus aureus. Nat. Commun. 1, 10.1038/ncomms1025 (2010)
S.W. Hell, Far-field optical nanoscopy. Science 316, 1153–1158 (2007)
Z. Gitai, New fluorescence microscopy methods for microbiology: sharper, faster, and quantitative. Curr. Opin. Microbiol. 12, 341–346 (2009)
V.R.F. Matias, T.J. Beveridge, Cryo-electron microscopy reveals native polymeric cell wall structure in Bacillus subtilis 168 and the existence of a periplasmic space. Mol. Microbiol. 56, 240–251 (2005)
E.A. Evans, D.A. Calderwood, Forces and bond dynamics in cell adhesion. Science 316, 1148–1153 (2007)
C. Bustamante, J.C. Macosko, G.J.L. Wuite, Grabbing the cat by the tail: manipulating molecules one by one. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 1, 130–136 (2000)
M. Sotomayor, K. Schulten, Single-molecule experiments in vitro and in silico. Science 316, 1144–1148 (2007)
D.J. Muller, Y.F. Dufrêne, Atomic force microscopy as a multifunctional molecular toolbox in nanobiotechnology. Nat. Nanotechnol. 3, 261–269 (2008)
P. Hinterdorfer, Y.F. Dufrêne, Detection and localization of single molecular recognition events using atomic force microscopy. Nat. Methods 3, 347–355 (2006)
Y.F. Dufrêne, Towards nanomicrobiology using atomic force microscopy. Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 6, 674–680 (2008)
K.C. Neuman, A. Nagy Single-molecule force spectroscopy: optical tweezers, magnetic tweezers and atomic force microscopy. Nat. Methods 5, 491–505 (2008)
D.J. Muller, J. Helenius, D. Alsteens, Y.F. Dufrêne, Force probing surfaces of living cells to molecular resolution. Nat. Chem. Biol. 5, 383–390 (2009)
G. Binnig, C.F. Quate, C. Gerber, Atomic force microscope. Phys. Rev. Lett. 56, 930–933 (1986)
S. Scheuring, Y.F. Dufrêne, Atomic force microscopy: probing the spatial organization, interactions and elasticity of microbial cell envelopes at molecular resolution. Mol. Microbiol. 75, 1327–1336 (2010)
K. El Kirat, S. Morandat, Y.F. Dufrêne, Nanoscale analysis of supported lipid bilayers using atomic force microscopy. Biochim. Biophys. Acta-Biomembr. 1798, 750–765 (2010)
S.Y. Liu, Y.F. Wang, Application of AFM in microbiology: a review. Scanning 32, 61–73 (2010)
L.S. Dorobantu, M.R. Gray, Application of atomic force microscopy in bacterial research. Scanning 32, 74–96 (2010)
D.J. Muller, M. Krieg, D. Alsteens, Y.F. Dufrêne, New frontiers in atomic force microscopy: analyzing interactions from single-molecules to cells. Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 20, 4–13 (2009)
E. Lesniewska, P.E. Milhiet, M.C. Giocondi, C. Le Grimellec, Atomic force microscope imaging of cells and membranes. Methods Cell Biol. 68, 51–65 (2002)
F. Gaboriaud, Y.F. Dufrêne, Atomic force microscopy of microbial cells: application to nanomechanical properties, surface forces and molecular recognition forces. Colloids Surf. B. Biointerfaces 54, 10–19 (2007)
W.F. Heinz, J.H. Hoh, Spatially resolved force spectroscopy of biological surfaces using the atomic force microscope. Trends Biotechnol. 17, 143–150 (1999)
H.J. Busscher et al. Intermolecular forces and enthalpies in the adhesion of Streptococcus mutans and an antigen I/II-deficient mutant to laminin films. J. Bacteriol. 189, 2988–2995 (2007)
C. Roduit et al. , Elastic membrane heterogeneity of living cells revealed by stiff nanoscale membrane domains. Biophys. J. 94, 1521–1532 (2008)
J. Helenius, C.P. Heisenberg, H.E. Gaub, D.J. Muller, Single-cell force spectroscopy. J. Cell Sci. 121, 1785–1791 (2008)
C. Rankl et al. , Multiple receptors involved in human rhinovirus attachment to live cells. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 105, 17778–17783 (2008)
M. Gad, A. Ikai, Method for immobilizing microbial cells on gel surface for dynamic AFM studies. Biophys. J. 69, 2226–2233 (1995)
E. Dague et al. , Assembly of live micro organisms on microstructured PDMS stamps by convective/capillary deposition for AFM bio-experiments. Nanotechnology 22, 395102 (2011)
R.D. Turner, N.H. Thomson, J. Kirkham, D. Devine, Improvement of the pore trapping method to immobilize vital coccoid bacteria for high-resolution AFM: a study of Staphylococcus aureus. J. Microsc.-Oxf. 238, 102–110 (2010)
C.D. Frisbie, L.F. Rozsnyai, A. Noy, M.S. Wrighton, C.M. Lieber, Functional-group imaging by chemical force microscopy. Science 265, 2071–2074 (1994)
D. Alsteens, E. Dague, P.G. Rouxhet, A.R. Baulard, Y.F. Dufrêne, Direct measurement of hydrophobic forces on cell surfaces using AFM. Langmuir 23, 11977–11979 (2007)
G.U. Lee, L.A. Chrisey, R.J. Colton, Direct measurement of the forces between complementary strands of DNA. Science 266, 771–773 (1994)
A. Touhami, B. Hoffmann, A. Vasella, F.A. Denis, Y.F. Dufrêne, Probing specific lectin-carbohydrate interactions using atomic force microscopy imaging and force measurements. Langmuir 19, 1745–1751 (2003)
A. Berquand et al. , Antigen binding forces of single antilysozyme Fv fragments explored by atomic force microscopy. Langmuir 21, 5517–5523 (2005)
V. Dupres et al., Nanoscale mapping and functional analysis of individual adhesins on living bacteria. Nat. Methods 2, 515–520 (2005)
C. Verbelen, H.J. Gruber, Y.F. Dufrêne, The NTA-His6 bond is strong enough for AFM single-molecular recognition studies. J. Mol. Recognit. 20, 490–494 (2007)
F. Kienberger et al., Recognition force spectroscopy studies of the NTA-His6 bond. Single Mol. 1, 59–65 (2000)
P. Hinterdorfer, W. Baumgartner, H.J. Gruber, K. Schilcher, & H. Schindler, Detection and localization of individual antibody-antigen recognition events by atomic force microscopy. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 93, 3477–3481 (1996)
S. Allen et al. , Detection of antigen-antibody binding events with the atomic force microscope. Biochemistry 36, 7457–7463 (1997)
C.K. Riener et al. , Heterobifunctional crosslinkers for tethering single ligand molecules to scanning probes. Anal. Chim. Acta 497, 101–114 (2003)
A. Ebner et al. , A new, simple method for linking of antibodies to atomic force microscopy tips. Bioconj. Chem. 18, 1176–1184 (2007)
R. Ros et al., Antigen binding forces of individually addressed single-chain Fv antibody molecules. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 95, 7402–7405 (1998)
F. Schwesinger et al., Unbinding forces of single antibody-antigen complexes correlate with their thermal dissociation rates. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 97, 9972–9977 (2000)
W. Baumgartner, N. Golenhofen, N. Grundhofer, J. Wiegand, D. Drenckhahn, Ca2 + dependency of N-cadherin function probed by laser tweezer and atomic force microscopy. J. Neurosci. 23, 11008–11014 (2003)
C. Stroh et al., Single-molecule recognition imaging-microscopy. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 101, 12503–12507 (2004)
W. Baumgartner et al., Cadherin interaction probed by atomic force microscopy. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 97, 4005–4010 (2000)
A. Razatos, Y.-L. Ong, M.M. Sharma, G. Georgiou, Molecular determinants of bacterial adhesion monitored by atomic force microscopy. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 95, 11059–11064 (1998)
Y.L. Ong, A. Razatos, G. Georgiou, M.M. Sharma, Adhesion forces between E-coli bacteria and biomaterial surfaces. Langmuir 15, 2719–2725 (1999)
W.R. Bowen, N. Hilal, R.W. Lovitt, C.J. Wright, Direct measurement of the force of adhesion of a single biological cell using an atomic force microscope. Colloids Surf. Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 136, 231–234 (1998)
S.K. Lower, M.F. Hochella, T.J. Beveridge, Bacterial recognition of mineral surfaces: nanoscale interactions between Shewanella and α-FeOOH. Science 292, 1360–1363 (2001)
M. Benoit, D. Gabriel, G. Gerisch, H.E. Gaub, Discrete interactions in cell adhesion measured by single-molecule force spectroscopy. Nat. Cell Biol. 2, 313–317 (2000)
A. Touhami, B. Nysten, Y.F. Dufrêne, Nanoscale mapping of the elasticity of microbial cells by atomic force microscopy. Langmuir 19, 4539 (2003)
D. Alsteens et al., Structure, cell wall elasticity and polysaccharide properties of living yeast cells, as probed by AFM. Nanotechnology 19, 384005 (2008)
P.B. Dengis, L.R. Nelissen, P.G. Rouxhet, Mechanisms of yeast flocculation: comparison of top- and bottom-fermenting strains Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 61, 718–728 (1995)
E. Dague et al., An atomic force microscopy analysis of yeast mutants defective in cell wall architecture. Yeast 27, 673–684 (2010)
E. Dague, R. Bittar, F. Durand, H. Martin-Hyken, J.M. François, An Atomic Force Microscopy analysis of yeast mutants defective in cell wall architecture. Yeast 27, 673–784 (2010)
R.J. Karreman et al., The stress response protein Hsp12p increases the flexibility of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell wall. Biochim. Biophys. Acta (BBA) Proteins Proteomics 1774, 131–137 (2007)
A.E.X. Brown, D.E. Discher, Conformational changes and signaling in cell and matrix physics. Curr. Biol. 19, R781-R789 (2009)
V. Vogel, M. Sheetz, Local force and geometry sensing regulate cell functions. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 7, 265–275 (2006)
J.C. Friedland, M.H. Lee, D. Boettiger, Mechanically activated integrin switch controls alpha(5)beta(1) function. Science 323 642–644 (2009)
B. Geiger, J.P. Spatz, A.D. Bershadsky, Environmental sensing through focal adhesions. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 10, 21–33 (2009)
A.D. Bershadsky, M. Kozlov, B. Geiger Adhesion-mediated mechanosensitivity: a time to experiment, and a time to theorize. Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 18, 472–481 (2006)
A.S. Smith, K. Sengupta, S. Goennenwein, U. Seifert, E. Sackmann, Force-induced growth of adhesion domains is controlled by receptor mobility. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 105, 6906–6911 (2008)
M. Gonzalez, P.W.J. de Groot, F.M. Klis, P.N. Lipke, Glycoconjugate structure and function in fungal cell walls, in Microbial Glycobiology, ed. by A.P. Moran (Academic, San Diego, 2009), pp 169–183
L.L. Hoyer, The ALS gene family of Candida albicans. Trends Microbiol. 9, 176–180 (2001)
L.L. Hoyer, C.B. Green, S.H. Oh, X.M. Zhao, Discovering the secrets of the Candida albicans agglutinin-like sequence (ALS) gene family – a sticky pursuit. Med. Mycol. 46, 1–15 (2008)
X.M. Zhao et al., ALS3 and ALS8 represent a single locus that encodes a Candida albicans adhesin; functional comparisons between Als3p and Als1p. Microbiology-(UK) 150, 2415–2428 (2004)
C.J. Nobile et al., Critical role of Bcr1-dependent adhesins in C. albicans biofilm formation in vitro and in vivo. PLoS Path. 2, 636–649 (2006)
S.A. Klotz et al., Degenerate peptide recognition by Candida albicans adhesins Als5p and Als1p. Infect. Immun. 72, 2029–2034 (2004)
D.C. Sheppard et al., Functional and structural diversity in the Als protein family of Candida albicans. J. Biol. Chem. 279, 30480–30489 (2004)
J.M. Rauceo et al., Threonine-rich repeats increase fibronectin binding in the Candida albicans adhesin Als5p. Eukaryot. Cell 5, 1664–1673 (2006)
J.M. Rauceo et al., Global cell surface conformational shift mediated by a Candida albicans adhesin. Infect. Immun. 72, 4948–4955 (2004)
C.B. Ramsook et al., Yeast cell adhesion molecules have functional amyloid-forming sequences. Eukaryot. Cell 9, 393–404 (2010)
H.N. Otoo, K.G. Lee, W.G. Qiu, P.N. Lipke, Candida albicans Als adhesins have conserved amyloid-forming sequences. Eukaryot. Cell 7 768–782 (2008)
A.T. Frank et al., Structure and function of glycosylated tandem repeats from Candida albicans Als adhesins. Eukaryot. Cell 9, 405–414 (2010)
D. Alsteens et al., Unfolding Individual Als5p Adhesion Proteins on Live Cells. ACS Nano 3, 1677–1682 (2009)
M. Rief, M. Gautel, F. Oesterhelt, J.M. Fernandez, H.E. Gaub, Reversible unfolding of individual titin immunoglobulin domains by AFM. Science 276, 1109–1112 (1997)
D. Alsteens, M.C. Garcia, P.N. Lipke, Y.F. Dufrene, Force-induced formation and propagation of adhesion nanodomains in living fungal cells. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 107, 20744–20749 (2010)
A.F. Oberhauser, P.E. Marszalek, H.P. Erickson, J.M. Fernandez, The molecular elasticity of the extracellular matrix protein tenascin. Nature 393, 181–185 (1998)
P.E. Marszalek, A.F. Oberhauser, Y.P. Pang, J.M. Fernandez, Polysaccharide elasticity governed by chair-boat transitions of the glucopyranose ring. Nature 396, 661–664 (1998)
F. Oesterhelt et al., Unfolding pathways of individual bacteriorhodopsins. Science 288, 143–146 (2000)
G. Lee et al., Nanospring behaviour of ankyrin repeats. Nature 440, 246–249 (2006)
J.K.H. Horber, M.J. Miles, Scanning probe evolution in biology. Science 302, 1002–1005 (2003)
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Foundation for Scientific Research (FNRS) and the Université Catholique de Louvain. D.A. is a postdoctoral researcher of the FNRS. E.D. is a researcher of Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). The authors thank Childérick Severac for careful and critical reading of the chapter.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Dague, E., Beaussart, A., Alsteens, D. (2012). Nanomechanics of Yeast Surfaces Revealed by AFM. In: Bhushan, B. (eds) Scanning Probe Microscopy in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology 3. NanoScience and Technology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-25414-7_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-25414-7_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-25413-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-25414-7
eBook Packages: Chemistry and Materials ScienceChemistry and Material Science (R0)