Note the great diversity of size, shape, and height of the species present. Many different types of aggregates are visible in this image including filaments, fibrils, and small aggregates of various sizes. The Talaga Lab developed an automated particle size/shape identification procedure to classify and count these different aggregates. We applied the method to follow the distribution of aggregation state during amyloidogenic incubation. A volume-based model of AFM tip image deconvolution was also developed.
Beta-lactoglobulin aggregation visualized by AFM
This is an image of ß-Amyloid fibrils derived from ß-lactoglobulin taken using tapping-mode AFM in air on a piece of mica that has been chemically modified to bind our sample.