Cell biology

Biology

Materials science

Microscope

Microscopy

Single-domain antibody

Biochemistry

Computer science

Fluorophore

Super-resolution microscopy

Resolution (logic)

Computational biology

Immunology

Physics

Nanotechnology

Optics

Fluorescence

Artificial intelligence

Chemistry

Cell

Fluorescence microscope

Biophysics

Live cell imaging

Antibody

Frontiers in Immunology

Single-domain antibodies (sdAbs) have substantially expanded the possibilities of advanced cellular imaging such as live-cell or super-resolution microscopy to visualize cellular antigens and their dynamics. In addition to their unique properties including small size, high stability, and solubility in many environments, sdAbs can be efficiently functionalized according to the needs of the respective imaging approach. Genetically encoded intrabodies fused to fluorescent proteins (chromobodies) have become versatile tools to study dynamics of endogenous proteins in living cells. Additionally, sdAbs conjugated to organic dyes were shown to label cellular structures with high density and minimal fluorophore displacement making them highly attractive probes for super-resolution microscopy. Here, we review recent advances of the chromobody technology to visualize localization and dynamics of cellular targets and the application of chromobody-based cell models for compound screening. Acknowledging the emerging importance of super-resolution microscopy in cell-biology, we further discuss advantages and challenges of sdAbs for this technology

Under the Microscope: Single-Domain Antibodies for Live-Cell Imaging and Super-Resolution Microscopy