Imaging in focus: Imaging the dynamics of endocytosis

Endocytosis, the formation of membrane vesicles from the plasma membrane, is an
essential feature of eukaryotic cell biology. Intense research effort has been
dedicated to developing methods that can detect endocytosis events with the
highest resolution. We have classified these methods into four families. They
exploit the physical properties of endocytosis, namely: 1. Distinguishing
extracellular from internalised cargo in fixed samples, 2. Monitoring endosomal
acidification, 3. Measuring the turnover of endocytic zones and 4. Detecting
vesicle scission. The last three families, all based on fluorescence imaging, are
used to study endocytosis in living cells. We discuss the advantages and
limitations of these methods and conclude on the future developments required to
tackle the upcoming challenges in this fundamental field of cell biology.

 

Auteurs Bordeaux Neurocampus