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Keynote Speaker

Dr. Giovanni Longo

Institute for the Structure of Matter, National Research Council (CNR), Italy

The Atomic Force Microscopy cantilever: a multimodal platform to decipher mechanics, nanomotion, and communication in living systems

 

Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) has transcended its original role as a high-resolution topographical imaging tool to become a highly versatile, multimodal platform for investigating single-cell and cluster-level biophysics. This presentation explores the unique capabilities of the AFM cantilever as a nanoscale sensor to evaluate the morphology, ultrastructure, and nanomechanical properties of living biological systems in real time. By correlating AFM with optical and fluorescence microscopy and with spectroscopy, we achieve a comprehensive, multidimensional overview of cellular dynamics. Thus, we will show how a correlative approach, coupling membrane roughness, Young's modulus and confocal microscopy, unveils the complex structural and nanomechanical alterations occurring during the oxidative aging of red blood cells, linking nanoscale cytoskeletal instability to metabolic degradation and vesicle formation.

Furthermore, the AFM cantilever acts as a highly sensitive, stand-alone nanomechanical oscillator, a nanomotion sensor which can transduce the minute, metabolic vibrations of specimens into measurable signals, offering a real-time signature of life. We will discuss the profound clinical utility of nanomotion sensing in executing rapid antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) on bacterial species like Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus .

Beyond these applications, the sensitivity to acoustic-like fluctuations opens new avenues for using cantilever sensors to understand complex cell behaviors. Recent findings reveal how clusters of neuroblastoma cells utilize acoustic mechanical waves for long distance cell-cell communication which could trigger mechanotransduction cascades that alter metabolic activity. Ultimately, these pioneering, cantilever-based methodologies are bridging the gap between fundamental biophysics, nanomedicine, and advanced clinical diagnostics.

The AFM cantilever as a multimodal platform to study different aspects of biological systems

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