Abstract
We present a scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) image of a supramolecular structure of biological importance, fibrous actin (F-actin) polymers from muscle. F-actin is one of the major components in biological contractile machinery such as muscle. A drop of a solution containing F-actin was put on a highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surface and dried in air at room temperature. F-actin deposited on an HOPG surface was imaged by using a commercially available STM operated in air without metal coating. A sheet type of F-actin paracrystal from sample preparation in the presence of 12 mM MgCl2 has been observed. The STM images showed corrugations consistent with the geometry expected from the known configuration of the sheet type paracrystal. We discuss the STM image and compare it with a conventional transmission electron microscope image.
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