JPK
Instruments, a world-leading manufacturer of nanoanalytic instrumentation
in life sciences and soft matter report on the benefits of a broad accessory
range to enable SPM researchers reach their goals. The 2010 accessories handbook
is now available.
JPK's philosophy in the development of their instrumentation range has been
to provide unlimited possibilities to their users. Working in scanning probe
microscopy (SPM), a researcher may start with a basic system such as an atomic
force microscope. Perhaps they would then add from a menu of operation modes
to enable the study of specific sample properties, e.g. mechanical, electrical
or electrochemical. JPK has a central platform known as the NanoWizard®
AFM. Their BioAFM head is now complemented by optional heads such as the CellHesion®
200 and ForceRobot® 300.
The SPM range of accessories from JPK to meet the broad range of applications challenges
The important question is how is this beneficial to users? More and more laboratories
are sharing instrumentation not just between individual research groups but
also between scientific disciplines. For example, environmental control of the
sample is now accepted as vital to obtain reproducible images and to study how
reactions may vary depending on variables such as humidity, liquid/gas composition
or temperature.
This is illustrated by the research work of Dr Kay-Eberhard Gottschalk. Dr
Gottschalk received his PhD at the Technical University in Munich in the group
of Professor Horst Kessler. After a postdoc at the Weizmann Institute focusing
on protein-protein interactions with Gideon Schreiber, he became a junior group
leader at the Department of Applied Physics, headed by Hermann Gaub at the Ludwig
Maximilians University in Munich. He has recently become leader of the new nanostructure
research group at the University of Greifswald within the Centre of Humoral
Immune Reactions in Cardiovascular Disease (ZIK HIKE), sponsored by the German
Federal Ministry of Science under their innovation initiative "Unternehmen
Region". Dr Gottschalk's research work started with theoretical structural
biology, but he later expanded his research by force measurements, a subject
which he has published a number of papers reporting on single molecule force
spectroscopy on living cells and interactions between proteins or cells and
surfaces.
Speaking about JPK's range of SPM accessories approach, Dr Gottschalk said
"the research of my lab is at the interface of medicine and physics. Our
collaboration partners are physicians, which report on immune reactions after
treatment with certain medications. They want to know the molecular reasons.
To answer their questions, I need instruments that offer me the powerful opportunity
to combine very sensitive measurements of protein interactions on cells with
cutting edge microscopic approaches. The unique design of the JPK instruments
allows me to integrate the insight gained by life-cell microscopy with the measurement
of adhesive forces down to the single molecule level, even when working with
samples from patients. This will push our understanding of the immune response
to bio-therapeutics to a new level."
JPK develops, engineers and manufactures instrumentation in Germany to the
world-recognised standards of German precision engineering, quality and functionality.
For further details of the NanoWizard®3 and its many applications, please
visit the JPK
web site. The new 2010 Accessories Handbook may be downloaded as a PDF.