The combined application of AFM and LSCM: Changing the way we look at innate immunity

The paradigm for how we approach scientific research is rapidly changing and currently reflects not only the advances in equipment but also the interdisciplinary nature of the research itself. With a special focus on immunological research, we demonstrate how this evolution has impacted the life sciences. In particular, we describe the integration and application of two different imaging technologies, the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) and Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope (LSCM). Interfacing AFM and confocal microscopy makes it possible to directly correlate high-resolution surface features with specific fluorescently tagged molecules thus, generating a better understanding of receptor-ligand interactions as well as surface feature analysis, measurements that can now be made in real-time. Advantages, disadvantages and technological challenges also will be described. We expect the combination of these complementary techniques will continue to advance and provide significant methods to investigate complex biological system in a non-invasive way