AUTHOR=Truong Quang Binh-An , Lenne Pierre-François
TITLE=Membrane microdomains: from seeing to understanding
JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science
VOLUME=Volume 5 - 2014
YEAR=2014
URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2014.00018
DOI=10.3389/fpls.2014.00018
ISSN=1664-462X
ABSTRACT=
The plasma membrane is a composite material, which forms a semi-permeable barrier and an interface for communication between the intracellular and extracellular environments. While the existence of membrane microdomains with nanoscale organization has been proved by the application of numerous biochemical and physical methods, direct observation of these heterogeneities using optical microscopy has remained challenging for decades, partly due to the optical diffraction limit, which restricts the resolution to approximately 200 nm. During the past years, new optical methods which circumvent this fundamental limit have emerged. Not only do these techniques allow direct visualization, but also quantitative characterization of nanoscopic structures. We discuss how these emerging optical methods have refined our knowledge of membrane microdomains and how they may shed light on the basic principles of the mesoscopic membrane organization.