Progress in Viral Imaging by Super-Resolution Fluorescence Microscopy

Cell and molecular biologists, virologists, and immunologists need novel technologies to better understand or uncover how inactive viral substances transform into live substances that start an infection. Visualization of the way the virus enters the cell and transports the viral genome needed for its reproduction is of paramount importance to viral studies. The recent outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 [SARS-CoV-2] has brought even more attention towards the need of imaging virus with the desired resolution to uncover the specific mechanisms associated with the cell infection process. The total dimension of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is 50 to 200 nm. From the early approaches to image viruses based on electron microscopy such as transmission electron microscope to today’s’ methods, the world of viruses’ imaging has been enriched by fluorescence microscopy approaches, providing a facile imaging methodology and potentials for imaging and tracking viruses in living cells and for a prolonged time without inducing cell damage and consequent death.