Mitochondria are essential for eukaryotic life. These double-membrane organelles often form highly dynamic tubular networks interacting with many cellular structures. Their highly convoluted contiguous inner membrane compartmentalizes the organelle, which is crucial for mitochondrial function. Since the diameter of the mitochondrial tubules is generally close to the diffraction limit of light microscopy, it is often challenging, if not impossible, to visualize submitochondrial structures or protein distributions using conventional light microscopy. This renders super-resolution microscopy particularly valuable, and attractive, for studying mitochondria. Super-resolution microscopy encompasses a diverse set of approaches that extend resolution, as well as nanoscopy techniques that can even overcome the diffraction limit. In this review, we provide an overview of recent studies using super-resolution microscopy to investigate mitochondria, discuss the strengths and opportunities of the various methods in addressing specific questions in mitochondrial biology, and highlight potential future developments.

中文翻译：

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纳米尺度线粒体的光学显微镜。

线粒体对于真核生命至关重要。这些双膜细胞器通常形成与许多细胞结构相互作用的高度动态的管状网络。它们高度复杂的连续内膜划分了细胞器，这对线粒体功能至关重要。由于线粒体小管的直径通常接近光学显微镜的衍射极限，因此使用传统光学显微镜观察线粒体下结构或蛋白质分布即使不是不可能，也常常具有挑战性。这使得超分辨率显微镜对于研究线粒体特别有价值且有吸引力。超分辨率显微镜包含多种扩展分辨率的方法，以及甚至可以克服衍射极限的纳米显微镜技术。在这篇综述中，我们概述了最近使用超分辨率显微镜研究线粒体的研究，讨论了各种方法在解决线粒体生物学特定问题方面的优势和机遇，并强调了未来潜在的发展。