Scanning force microscopy (SFM) allows direct, rapid and high-resolution visualization of single molecular complexes; irregular shapes and differences in sizes are immediately revealed by the scanning tip in three-dimensional images. However, high-throughput analysis of SFM data is limited by the lack of versatile software tools accessible to SFM users. Most existing SFM software tools are aimed at broad general use: from material-surface analysis to visualization of biomolecules. Results: We present SFMetrics as a metrology toolbox for SFM, specifically aimed at biomolecules like DNA and proteins, which features (a) semi-automatic high-throughput analysis of individual molecules; (b) ease of use working within MATLAB environment or as a stand-alone application; (c) compatibility with MultiMode (Bruker), NanoWizard (JPK instruments), Asylum (Asylum research), ASCII, and TIFF files, that can be adjusted with minor modifications to other formats. Conclusion: Assembled in a single user interface, SFMetrics serves as a semi-automatic analysis tool capable of measuring several geometrical properties (length, volume and angles) from DNA and protein complexes, but is also applicable to other samples with irregular shapes. &Copy; Malm et al.; licensee BioMed Central.

doi.org/10.1186/s12859-015-0457-8, hdl.handle.net/1765/84575
B M C Bioinformatics
Department of Radiation Oncology

Sanchez, H., & Wyman, C. (2015). SFMetrics: An analysis tool for scanning force microscopy images of biomolecules. B M C Bioinformatics, 16(1). doi:10.1186/s12859-015-0457-8