MJÖLNIR

AKA SOPHIA

12 de abril de 2019

The microscope is a custom made atomic force microscope designed for single molecule manipulation. Originally, the microscope was built at Fernandez lab (Columbia University) and moved to Chile in 2018. The microscope has the ability to apply calibrated forces on biomolecules, mimicking the mechanical force that molecules experienced within the cell. The AFM is called SOPHIA, "wisdom" in greek, but in the lab is also know by Mjölnir or Thor´s hammer.

Publications using AFM

ASSEMBLING THE FIRST AFM-BASED SINGLE MOLECULE FORCE-CLAMP SPECTROMETER IN CHILE

(updated on April 18, 2021)

The AFM was assembled with the collaboration of Fernandez Lab, which donate most of the parts. The Microscope is based in a Veeco AFM head and PI-363-XYZ Piezo positioner. The control is made by a custom made electronic which enable to apply multiple force protocols, including force-extension (FX), and force-ramp (FR), and constant force (FC). The spectrometer has a spatial resolution close to 2 nm and a bandwith enough to made force-jumps of 7 ms.

We use Mjölnir, SOPHIA, to characterize the elasticity of single molecule protein. In the lab we have focused our efforts to study the elasticity of titin and bacterial adhesins. Check our publications using AFM.