Photoswitchable fluorescent proteins for superresolution fluorescence microscopy circumventing the diffraction limit of light

Methods Mol Biol. 2014:1076:793-812. doi: 10.1007/978-1-62703-649-8_36.

Abstract

In the last two decades, fluorescent proteins became an indispensable tool to noninvasively label a protein in living cells. The discovery of photoswitchable fluorescent proteins expanded the applications of the fluorescent proteins to techniques such as molecular tracking and highlighting on a microscope. Recently, a new microscopic modality to achieve a superresolution circumventing the diffraction limit of light (photoactivated localization microscopy, PALM) has been developed based on the photoswitchable fluorescent proteins. Here we introduce a basic protocol of PALM through the visualization of actin bundles with superresolution.

MeSH terms

  • Actins / ultrastructure*
  • Fluorescent Dyes / chemistry
  • Humans
  • Light
  • Microscopy, Fluorescence / methods*

Substances

  • Actins
  • Fluorescent Dyes