The existence of membrane contact sites (MCS) has been reported in different systems in the past decade, and their importance has been recognised by the cell biology community. Amongst all endomembrane structures, the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) plays vital roles in organising the organelle interaction network with the plasma membrane (PM), Golgi bodies, mitochondria, plastids, endosomes and autophagosomes. A number of methods have been used to study the establishment and functions of these interactions, among them, light microscopy appears to be one of the most effective approaches. Here, we present an overview of the discovery of ER–PM contact sites, and highlight the latest developments in light microscopical‐based techniques that can be used for their study.

中文翻译：

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植物内质网膜接触位点的光学显微镜

在过去的十年中，膜接触位点 (MCS) 的存在已在不同系统中得到报道，其重要性已得到细胞生物学界的认可。在所有内膜结构中，内质网 (ER) 在组织细胞器与质膜 (PM)、高尔基体、线粒体、质体、内体和自噬体的相互作用网络中起着至关重要的作用。许多方法已被用于研究这些相互作用的建立和功能，其中，光学显微镜似乎是最有效的方法之一。在这里，我们概述了 ER-PM 接触位点的发现，并重点介绍了可用于他们研究的基于光学显微镜的技术的最新发展。