Developing atomic force microscopy image analysis tools
Although atomic force microscopy (AFM) is an excellent technique for single molecule imaging of biomolecules due to its high signal-to-noise ratio, a lack of advanced analysis methods has limited its applications to characterisation of biomolecules. My research is focused on developing computational image analysis to allow data from topographic AFM images of helical filaments to be reconstructed in 3D and integrated with other structural biology techniques, including cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). This enhances the characterisation of heterogenous and polymorphic populations of protein samples on a single molecule level.
Through the development of computational analysis tools I aim to advance the application of AFM for single molecule imaging of protein structures in integrative structural biology approaches.
Selected Publications
Lutter, L., Al-Hilaly, Y., Serpell, C., Tuite, M., Wischik, C., Serpell, L., & Xue, W. (2022). Structural Identification of Individual Helical Amyloid Filaments by Integration of Cryo-Electron Microscopy-Derived Maps in Comparative Morphometric Atomic Force Microscopy Image Analysis. Journal Of Molecular Biology, 434(7), 167466. doi.org/10.1016/j.jmb.2022.167466
Aubrey, L. D.*, Blakeman, B. J. F.*, Lutter, L., Serpell, C. J., Tuite, M. F., Serpell, L. C., & Xue, W.-F. (2020). Quantification of amyloid fibril polymorphism by nano-morphometry reveals the individuality of filament assembly. Communications Chemistry, 3(1). doi.org/10.1038/s42004-020-00372-3
Lutter, L., Serpell, C. J., Tuite, M. F., Serpell, L. C., & Xue, W.-F. (2020). Three-dimensional reconstruction of individual helical nano-filament structures from atomic force microscopy topographs. Biomolecular Concepts, 11(1), 102–115. doi.org/10.1515/bmc-2020-0009