Super-resolution microscopy of mitochondria.
Mitochondria, the powerhouses of the cell, are essential organelles in eukaryotic cells. With their complex inner architecture featuring a smooth outer and a highly convoluted inner membrane, they are challenging objects for microscopy. The diameter of mitochondria is generally close to the resolution limit of conventional light microscopy, rendering diffraction-unlimited super-resolution light microscopy (nanoscopy) for imaging submitochondrial protein distributions often mandatory. In this review, we discuss what can be expected when imaging mitochondria with conventional diffraction-limited and diffraction-unlimited microscopy. We provide an overview on recent studies using super-resolution microscopy to investigate mitochondria and discuss further developments and challenges in mitochondrial biology that might by addressed with these technologies in the future.
Department of NanoBiophotonics, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, 37070 Göttingen, Germany; Department of Neurology, University of Göttingen Medical School, 37073 Göttingen, Germany. Electronic address: sjakobs@gwdg.de.
Stefan
S
Jakobs
Department of NanoBiophotonics, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, 37070 Göttingen, Germany.
Christian A
CA
Wurm
D000818:Animals; D002467:Cell Nucleus; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D008853:Microscopy / Q000379:methods*; D008928:Mitochondria
D008565:Membrane Proteins; D004247:DNA