Membrane microdomains: from seeing to understanding

The plasma membrane is a composite material, which forms a semi-permeable barrier and an interface for communication between the intracellular and extracellular environments. While the existence of membrane microdomains with nanoscale organization has been proved by the application of numerous biochemical and physical methods, direct observation of these heterogeneities using optical microscopy has remained challenging for decades, partly due to the optical diffraction limit, which restricts the resolution to similar to 200 nm. During the past years, new optical methods which circumvent this fundamental limit have emerged. Not only do these techniques allow direct visualization, but also quantitative characterization of nanoscopic structures. We discuss how these emerging optical methods have refined our knowledge of membrane microdomains and how they may shed light on the basic principles of the mesoscopic membrane organization.