JPK Instruments has announced the latest member of its nanotechnology characterisation systems range: the Forcerobot300.
Force spectroscopy is a single molecule technique that allows the real-time study of molecular interactions on the nanoscale.
Originating from the broad field of atomic force microscopy (AFM), force spectroscopy directly addresses the measurement of forces between and within molecules.
The sensitivity is high enough to characterise molecular interactions such as the unfolding forces of single proteins or forces of a single molecular bond.
The key to obtaining meaningful results from single molecule techniques such as force spectroscopy is the statistical management of the results.
The automated setup and continuous adjustments of the Forcerobot300 provide improvements in the efficiency of data collection, while the integration of optical techniques allows targeted measurements where the molecules of interest are located.
Until now, single molecule force spectroscopy was a complicated procedure.
The requirement of frequent manual calibrations and alignments as well as the need for constant operator presence with the instrument made it a laborious task.
Useful data output was both low and slow, with only a few suitable curves obtained over many hours.
The Forcerobot300 addresses these issues as a dedicated tool for the force spectroscopist.
The key to the system is the incorporation of intelligent software for experimental design, data acquisition and evaluation.
Tens of thousands of force curves may be generated and evaluated in a matter of hours.
To produce high-quality curves requires an instrument with the lowest noise floor and a rigid mechanical design.
High accuracy and stability of the instrument is ensured by integrated capacitive position sensors with drift being minimised thorough utilising a symmetrical system design.
The system may be operated in a stand-alone mode to give maximum access and flexibility to the sample.
Alternatively, it may be mounted on top of an inverted optical microscope to enable simultaneous force spectroscopy and fluorescence microscopy.
Both versions are available with a choice of positioning stage.
While the basic motorised stage will provide positioning to better than one micron, the Precision Mapping Stage uses closed-loop control with noise levels to better than 0.3nm and positioning to about 1nm.
The Forcerobot300 has several further options for fluidics and temperature control to enable the most reproducible results.
