Emergency Replacement of a Piezoelectric Positioner for a High-Resolution Single Molecule Atomic Force Microscope

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This equipment grant will allow the applicant to purchase an emergency replacement of a piezoelectric positioner for a custom-built high-resolution atomic force microscope (AFM), for characterizing the nanomechanical properties of proteins and folding-unfolding dynamics of proteins at the single molecule level. This custom-built AFM was specifically designed for single molecule force spectroscopy studies of proteins and had been the main and essential research tool for our research program. Our research program is focused on developing single molecule force spectroscopy-based enabling technologies to address challenges in life sciences and material sciences; and rationally tailoring mechanical properties of protein-based biomaterials by programming the molecular sequence, and thus nanomechanical properties, of elastomeric proteins at the single-molecule level. The proposed piezoelectric positioner, which is the key component of the AFM, is to replace a failed one in our custom built AFM setup. The breakdown of this piezoelectric positioner has completely disabled our AFM setup since December of 2020 and significantly impacted our research program, as many experiments can no longer be carried out. This replacement will allow us to fully repair our AFM setup, and re-establish this state-of-the-art research facility in UBC. This fully repaired AFM setup will restore our ability to run some of the most advanced measurements in the field of single molecule force spectroscopy, and the obtained knowledge will significantly advance our understanding of the folding mechanism of proteins at the single molecule level, and rational design of biomaterials with tailored mechanical properties using a bottom-up approach.