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Updated: Apr 10, 2026

Correlative Microscopy for 3D Structural Analysis of Dynamic Interactions
Published on: June 24, 2013
The evolution of structured illumination microscopy in studies of HIV
Kelly Marno1, Lara Al'Zoubi1, Matthew Pearson2
1Centre for Immunobiology, Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
The resolution limit of conventional light microscopy has proven to be limiting for many biological structures such as viruses including Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Individual HIV virions are impossible to study using confocal microscopy as they are well below the 200 nm resolution limit of conventional light microscopes. Structured illumination microscopy (SIM) allows a twofold enhancement in image resolution compared to standard widefield illumination and so provides an excellent tool for study of HIV. Viral capsids (CAs) vary between 110 and 146 nm so this study challenges the performance of SIM microscopes. SIM microscopy was first developed in 2000, commercialised in 2007 and rapidly developed. Here we present the changes in capabilities of the SIM microscopes for study of HIV localisation as the instrumentation for structured illumination microscopy has evolved over the past 8 years.
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