Super-resolution microscopy

Abstract

Fluorescence microscopy is a valuable toolbox to study cellular structures and dynamics spanning scales from the single molecule to the live animal. The spatial resolution that can be achieved with any light-based microscopy is however limited to about 200. nm in the imaging plane and >500. nm along the optical axis. It has been a motivation and a challenge to bypass this limit in spatial resolution, and to extend the range of fluorescence microscopy reaching a near-molecular resolution. A selection of techniques that successfully demonstrated sub-diffraction resolution fluorescence imaging and which today are used for imaging of small cellular structures is reviewed. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.