Rinshi S. Kasai

TL;DR: The high-speed single-molecule tracking methods are described, and a new model of a partitioned fluid plasma membrane and the involvement of the actin-based membrane-skeleton "fences" and anchored-transmembrane protein "pickets" in the formation of compartment boundaries are critically reviewed.

TL;DR: It is proposed that the cooperative action of the hierarchical three-tiered mesoscale (2-300 nm) domains--actin-membrane-skeleton induced compartments, raft domains, and dynamic protein complex domains--is critical for membrane function and distinguishes the plasma membrane from a classical Singer-Nicolson-type model.

TL;DR: Three-dimensional images of the undercoat structure on the cytoplasmic surface of the upper cell membrane of normal rat kidney fibroblast (NRK) cells and fetal rat skin keratinocytes were reconstructed by electron tomography, supporting the MSK fence and MSK-anchored protein picket models.

TL;DR: A single-molecule tracking technique coupled with mathematical modeling was developed for fully determining the dynamic monomer–dimer equilibrium of molecules in or on the plasma membrane, which will provide a framework for understanding signal transduction pathways initiated and regulated by dynamic dimers of membrane-localized receptors.

TL;DR: SMT methods are reviewed, the recent results obtained by SMT are summarized, related superresolution microscopy data is summarized, and special concerns when SMT applications are shifted from the in vitro paradigms to living cells are described.