Super-resolution microscopy: revolutionizing life sciences through advanced resolution
image: The working principle and resolution of three fluorescence microscopy techniques: MINFLUX, RESI and ONE, (Reinhardt et al. 2023; Sahl et al. 2024; Shaib et al. 2024) respectively. A The donut-shaped excitation spot in MINFLUX used to achieve precise localization. B MINFLUX reconstructions of polyproline end-to-end distances. C RESI achieves sub-nanometer resolution by using orthogonal DNA sequences (blue and green) and sequential acquisition as in Exchange-PAINT. D The RESI technique resolves adjacent docking strands and has an average accuracy of 1.2 Å for single base pair backbone distances, with Euclidean distances of 8.5 ± 1.7 Å calculated from individual localizations. E The expansion and labeling process of biological samples in ONE method. F Imaging of three immunoglobulins (IgG, IgA, IgM) by ONE
Credit: HIGHER EDUCATON PRESS
With the rapid revolution in super-resolution microscopy, the resolution of far-field optical microscopy has entered the sub-nanometer era, providing new insights into macromolecules in vitro and in situ.
Super-resolution imaging technology has been recognized by Nature as one of the top seven frontier technologies in 2024, underscoring its pivotal role in contemporary scientific research. Since the beginning of the 21st century, this technology has made many groundbreaking advances (Jungmann et al. 2014; Rust et al. 2006; Willig et al. 2006), driven by the deep convergence of physics, chemistry, and life sciences, alongside continuous innovation in both hardware and software. These breakthroughs have profoundly enhanced research across life sciences, particularly in molecular and cellular biology, offering unprecedented opportunities to visualize biological structures at the nanoscale. A notable milestone in this field was the award of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Eric Betzig, Stefan W. Hell, and William E. Moerner, for their pioneering work in super-resolution fluorescence microscopy. Their achievements, which overcame the diffraction limit of traditional optical microscopy, have enabled imaging at nanometer resolution, revolutionizing our ability to explore the molecular intricacies of biological systems.
In recent years, advancements in super-resolution fluorescence microscopy have delivered remarkable progress, with some techniques now pushing spatial resolution to the angstrom (Å) scale. This leap forward provides researchers with powerful tools to investigate biomolecular structures, protein complexes, and intracellular dynamics, with far-reaching implications for the life sciences. The following sections introduce several representative super-resolution imaging techniques in recent years, detailing their underlying principles and exploring their potential applications in biological research.