부산대학교 도서관

Owing to the recent progress in microscopic technologies such as super-resolution microscopy and cryo-electron microscopy and the development of new methodologies for preparing observation samples without damages and labeling target molecules with high specificity, increasing numbers of attempts have been made to observe the fine structures of intracellular bodies and the dynamic behaviors of intracellular molecules. This review article introduces the latest topics of studies revealed by such cutting-edge imaging technologies, namely, (i) fine structure of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and distribution of a Ca2+ pump SERCA2b on the ER membrane, (ii) transport and incorporation of ferritin liquid droplets to the lysosome via macroautophagy and microautophagy, (iii) molecular-level observation of cellular fine structures in tissues, and (iv) formation and disaggregation of amyloid fibrils of a yeast prion protein Sup35. These observation targets are “meso-scale complexes” with diameters of 20 to 500 nm, and new insights into their intercellular structures and dynamics are being gained.