Imaging Intracellular Fluorescent Proteins at Nanometer Resolution

2006/08/10 by Eric Betzig, George H. Patterson, Rachid Sougrat +6 · 29 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Fluorescence Microscopy Techniques #Advanced Electron Microscopy Techniques and Applications #Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications

paper · doi:10.1126/science.1127344

openalex publication_date 2006/08/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

We introduce a method for optically imaging intracellular proteins at nanometer spatial resolution. Numerous sparse subsets of photoactivatable fluorescent protein molecules were activated, localized (to approximately 2 to 25 nanometers), and then bleached. The aggregate position information from all subsets was then assembled into a superresolution image. We used this method--termed photoactivated localization microscopy--to image specific target proteins in thin sections of lysosomes and mitochondria; in fixed whole cells, we imaged vinculin at focal adhesions, actin within a lamellipodium, and the distribution of the retroviral protein Gag at the plasma membrane.

Citations

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