Imaging: Exploring the Formation of Focal Adhesions on Patterned Surfaces Using Super‐Resolution Imaging (Small 20/2011)

The cover image illustrates the formation of focal adhesions on fibronectin nanopatterns as revealed by super-resolution imaging. The localization-based super-resolution imaging technique was employed to determine the position and density of vinculin proteins in the focal adhesions. A characteristic distance of 50 nm was found between vinculin molecules in the focal adhesions, which did not depend on the size of the fi bronectin nanopatterns; this distance is crucial for the formation of focal adhesions. In addition, the density of vinculin at the focal adhesions formed on the nanopatterns increased as the pattern size decreased. For more information, please read the Full Paper “Exploring the Formation of Focal Adhesions on Patterned Surfaces using Super- Resolution Imaging” by P. Chen and co-workers, starting on page 2906.