Noncontact Atomic Force Microscopy for Studying Biomolecules in Liquids

Noncontact atomic force microscopy, a type of scanning probe microscopy, has been actively used in the last two decades to study hydrated biomolecules. Analysis of modern literature shows that noncontact atomic force microscopy is a very promising method for studying adsorbed biomacromolecules and biomacromolecular complexes at the membrane interface or surfaces. This mini-review describes the foundations of this method, its application to biomolecules, discusses the requirements for the method and the possibility of its extension through additional processing of the obtained experimental data using theoretical analysis, molecular modeling or machine learning.