Functional super-resolution microscopy of the cell

Rui Yan; Bowen Wang; Ke Xu

doi:10.1016/j.cbpa.2019.05.016

Functional super-resolution microscopy of the cell

Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2019 Aug:51:92-97. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2019.05.016. Epub 2019 Jun 15.

Authors

Rui Yan¹, Bowen Wang¹, Ke Xu²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.
² Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA. Electronic address: xuk@berkeley.edu.

PMID: 31212118
DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2019.05.016

Abstract

Recent advances in super-resolution fluorescence microscopy have led to ∼10 nm spatial resolution and profound impact on cell biology and beyond. Here we discuss emerging possibilities to encode functional information of intracellular microenvironments, for example, local pH, small-molecule concentrations, chemical polarity (hydrophobicity), and protein activity, into diverse dimensions of the super-resolution signal, hence a class of approaches we collectively refer to as functional super-resolution microscopy. By adding remarkably rich functional information to the already powerful super-resolution arsenal, functional super-resolution microscopy transcends the structural information provided by existing methods, and opens up new ways to unveil fascinating local heterogeneities in live cells with nanometer-scale spatial resolution and ultimate sensitivity down to the single-molecule level.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Limit of Detection
Mice
Microscopy, Fluorescence / methods*
NIH 3T3 Cells