PALM microscopy allowed the determination of GPCR clusters

Cell-type-specific β2 adrenergic receptor clusters identified using photo-activated localization microscopy are not lipid raft related, but depend on actin cytoskeleton integrity. The group of Aleksandra Radenovic (Laboratory of Nanoscale Biology) has successfully used PALM microscopy for the quantitative determination of GPCR clusters. The direct measurement of diffraction-limited structures, such as clusters, is outside the resolution of the available microscopy techniques. In this paper, cell-type specific β2 adrenergic receptor clusters have been identified using PALM. The application of this powerful microscopy technique opens up the possibility to quantify the number of molecules in biological assemblies. Marco Scarselli, Paolo Annibale and Aleksandra Radenovic, JBC, doi: 10.1074/jbc.M111.329912 (2012)