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Cell imaging

An intracellular dance visualized

Nature volume 546, pages 39–40 (2017)Cite this article

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The development of a microscopy technique that enables observation of the interactions between six types of organelle, in 3D and over time, holds promise for improving our understanding of intracellular processes. See Letter p.162

Much as a human body contains many organs, its cells contain many organelles. These membrane-bounded compartments perform different functions but must interact physically, coordinating their activities to keep the cell alive and well. Cell biologists have long watched organelles dance inside living cells, either alone or in pairs. But technological limitations have made it hard to observe interactions between multiple organelles — little is known about the choreography of the dance troupe as a whole. On page 162, Valm et al.1 introduce an arsenal of tools with which to simultaneously visualize six types of organelle in a live cell, and use the video footage generated to define organellar structures, dynamics and interactions.

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Figure 1: Visualizing organelle dynamics in a living cell.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Molecular Spectroscopy and Dynamics, Institute for Basic Science, Seoul, 02841, Republic of Korea

    Sang-Hee Shim

  2. Department of Chemistry, Korea University, Seoul

    Sang-Hee Shim

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  1. Sang-Hee Shim
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Correspondence to Sang-Hee Shim.

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Shim, SH. An intracellular dance visualized. Nature 546, 39–40 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature22500

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