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O: Oberflächenphysik

O 26: Postersitzung (Rastersondentechniken, Nanostrukturen, Teilchen und Cluster, Methodisches, Oxide und Isolatoren, Grenzfl
äche fest-flüssig, Struktur und Dynamik reiner Oberfl
ächen, Oberfl
ächenreaktionen, Zeitaufg. Spektroskopie, Phasenüberg
änge

O 26.14: Poster

Wednesday, March 13, 2002, 14:30–17:30, Bereich C

AFM studies on human metaphase chromosomes — •Bettina Heinz, Martin Oberringer, Andreas Englisch, Haibin Gao, and Uwe Hartmann — Universitaet Saarbruecken, FR 7.2 Experimentalphysik, Geb. 22, 66123 Saarbruecken

A better knowledge of biochemical and structural properties of human chromosomes is important for cytogenetic investigations and diagnostics. Since conventional fluorescence microscopy has reached its limit due to the restricted optical resolution, we are currently working with atomic force microscopy (AFM) in this field to achieve much higher resolution. The topography of GTG-banded human metaphase chromosomes was evaluated by AFM and compared to the standard banding pattern according to the international system for human cytogenetic nomenclature (ISCN 1995), which is based on the optical properties of the chromosomes. A better resolution of the chromosomal surface in general and of the bands themselves was acchieved by applying AFM. Another approach to make the chromosomes more accessible to DNA-probes consists of various biochemical treatments. We use the protein cleaving enzyme trypsin and the polyanion heparin to remove the DNA-binding proteins, mainly represented by histones.