Investigating cellular structures at the nanoscale with organic fluorophores.

Sebastian van de Linde, Sarah Aufmkolk, Christian Franke, Thorge Holm, Teresa Klein, Anna Löschberger, Sven Proppert, Steve Wolter, Markus Sauer

Department of Biotechnology and Biophysics, Biozentrum, Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany.

Chemistry & biology 2013 Jan 24

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Super-resolution fluorescence imaging can provide insights into cellular structure and organization with a spatial resolution approaching virtually electron microscopy. Among all the different super-resolution methods single-molecule-based localization microscopy could play an exceptional role in the future because it can provide quantitative information, for example, the absolute number of biomolecules interacting in space and time. Here, small organic fluorophores are a decisive factor because they exhibit high fluorescence quantum yields and photostabilities, thus enabling their localization with nanometer precision. Besides past progress, problems with high-density and specific labeling, especially in living cells, and the lack of suited standards and long-term continuous imaging methods with minimal photodamage render the exploitation of the full potential of the method currently challenging. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Citation

Sebastian van de Linde, Sarah Aufmkolk, Christian Franke, Thorge Holm, Teresa Klein, Anna Löschberger, Sven Proppert, Steve Wolter, Markus Sauer. Investigating cellular structures at the nanoscale with organic fluorophores. Chemistry & biology. 2013 Jan 24;20(1):8-18