The interaction of the cytotoxic metals cadmium, zinc, and lead with pancreatic cells was studied by atomic force/lateral Force microscopy (AFM/LFM), an approach that provides both topographic (with nanometer scale lateral resolution) and chemical information on the membrane. Different morphological modifications of the overall cell shape and roughness took place as consequence of 100 muM metal-dependent treatment. Furthermore, after exposure to Cd(Cl(2)) and Zn(Cl(2)), but not Pb(Cl(2)), the LFM images revealed several areas of the cell's surface showing lateral friction contrasts that have been interpreted as marker of different alterations of the cell physiology induced by the metal loading. Thus, the coupling of LFM detection to topographic AFM characterization allows to distinguish, through a nondestructive and surface characterising approach, between different metal-induced cytotoxic effects on cells. In this framework, the role of the LFM as an important tool to discriminate between different alteration of a biological system has to be highlighted.
(c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.