National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease (NIH/NIDDK)
111465
米国
National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute (NIH/NCI)
250329
米国
引用
ジャーナル: J Biol Chem / 年: 2022 タイトル: Development of an atmospheric plasma jet device for versatile treatment of electron microscope sample grids. 著者: Eungjin Ahn / Tianyu Tang / Byungchul Kim / Hae June Lee / Uhn-Soo Cho / 要旨: Atmospheric-pressure plasmas have been widely applied for surface modification and biomedical treatment because of their ability to generate highly reactive radicals and charged particles. In ...Atmospheric-pressure plasmas have been widely applied for surface modification and biomedical treatment because of their ability to generate highly reactive radicals and charged particles. In negative-stain electron microscopy (Neg-EM) and cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM), plasmas have been used to generate hydrophilic surfaces and eliminate surface contaminants to embed specimens onto grids. In addition, plasma treatment is a prerequisite for negative-stain and Quantifoil grids, whose surfaces are coated with hydrophobic amorphous carbon. Although the conventional glow discharge system has been used successfully in this purpose, there has been no further effort to take an advantage from the recent progress in the plasma field. Here, we developed a nonthermal atmospheric plasma jet system as an alternative tool for treatment of surfaces. The low-temperature plasma is a nonequilibrium system that has been widely used in biomedical area. Unlike conventional glow discharge systems, the plasma jet system successfully cleans and introduces hydrophilicity on the grid surface in the ambient environment without a vacuum. Therefore, we anticipate that the plasma jet system will have numerous benefits, such as convenience and versatility, as well as having potential applications in surface modification for both negative-stain and cryo-EM grid treatment.