Issue 35, 2018

Towards structural biology with super-resolution microscopy

Abstract

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) has been instrumental in determining the structure and dynamics of biomolecules but distances above 8 nanometers are not accessible. However, with the advent and rapid development of super-resolution (SR) microscopy, distances between two fluorescent dyes below 20 nanometers can be resolved, which hitherto has been inaccessible for fluorescence microscopy approaches due to the limited resolving power of an optical imaging system that is determined by the fundamental laws of light diffraction (referred to as the diffraction limit). Therefore, the question arises whether SR microscopy can ultimately close the resolution gap between FRET and the diffraction limit and whether SR microscopy can be employed for the structural interrogation of proteins in the sub-20 nm range? Here, we show that the combination of DNA nanotechnology and single-molecule biochemistry allows the first step towards the investigation of the structural organization of a protein via SR microscopy. Limiting factors and possible future directions for the full implementation of SR microscopy as a structural tool are discussed.

Graphical abstract: Towards structural biology with super-resolution microscopy

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Feature Article
Submitted
24 אפר 2018
Accepted
16 יול 2018
First published
18 יול 2018

Nanoscale, 2018,10, 16416-16424

Towards structural biology with super-resolution microscopy

J. Molle, L. Jakob, J. Bohlen, M. Raab, P. Tinnefeld and D. Grohmann, Nanoscale, 2018, 10, 16416 DOI: 10.1039/C8NR03361G

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements