This review highlights the significant observations of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) assembly, release and maturation made possible with advanced light microscopy techniques. The advances in technology which now enables these light microscopy measurements are discussed with special emphasis on live imaging approaches including Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence (TIRF), high-resolution light microscopy techniques including PALM and STORM and single molecule measurements, including Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET). The review concludes with a discussion on what new insights and understanding can be expected from these measurements.
Keywords: ESCRTs; Gag; HIV; PALM; STED; STORM; TIRF; iPALM.