Atomic force microscopy and drug discovery

Atomic force microscopy is being used ever more widely in biological imaging, because of its unique ability to provide structural information at the single molecule level and under near-physiological conditions. Detailed topographic images of potential drug targets, such as proteins and DNA, have been produced, and the folding of modular proteins has been studied using single-molecule force spectroscopy. Recently, atomic force microscopy has been used to examine ligand-protein and ligand-DNA interactions, and to begin to determine the architecture of multi-subunit proteins, including a member of the superfamily of ionotropic receptors. Atomic force microscopy is fast becoming a valuable addition to the pharmaceutical industry's toolkit.