LIMES-Institute, Laboratory of Membrane Biochemistry, University of Bonn, Bonn.
Physiology (Bethesda). 2010 Apr;25(2):116-24. doi: 10.1152/physiol.00044.2009.
Fluorescence microscopy is powerful for analyzing the composition and dynamics of cellular elements, but studying precise molecule patterns is precluded due to diffraction limited resolution. This barrier has been lifted now through several superresolution microscopy techniques. They revealed that proteins assemble in defined groups (clusters). A new challenge thus appears for the biologist: to find out whether clusters are molecular machines, stabilizers of defined protein conformations, or simply protein reservoirs.
荧光显微镜在分析细胞成分和动力学方面功能强大，但由于受到衍射极限分辨率的限制，研究精确的分子模式受到阻碍。现在，通过几种超分辨率显微镜技术，这个障碍已经被克服了。这些技术揭示了蛋白质在特定的群组（簇）中组装。因此，生物学家面临着一个新的挑战：确定簇是分子机器、特定蛋白质构象的稳定剂，还是仅仅是蛋白质的储存库。
