Advances in the visualisation of molecular assemblies within cellular signalling nanodomains : insights from a decade of mapping of ryanodine receptor clusters

Nanodomains are naturally assembled signaling stations, which facilitate fast and highly regulated signaling within and between cells. Calcium (Ca2+) nanodomains known as junctional membrane complexes (JMCs) transduce fast and highly synchronized intracellular signals, which are required by a variety of cell types. Common to most such nanodomains are clustered assemblies of the principal intracellular Ca2+ release channels, ryanodine receptors (RyRs). JMCs found in cardiac muscle cells have been studied extensively as self-assembled clusters of RyR. While known to form crystalline arrays in vitro, the organization of RyRs in situ within the JMCs has been less clear. The development of single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM or super-resolution) optical methods has transformed our ability to visualize and accurately quantify the spatial geometries and sizes of RyR clusters. The recent application of the novel DNA-PAINT super-resolution technology has exploited an unprecedented optical resolution of 10–15 nm to visualize the natural arrays of RyRs within JMCs. In this chapter, we review the key insights into the in situ RyR assembly within cardiac nanodomains that have been gained over the last decade with the utility of super-resolution microscopy and the major considerations in interpreting and validating such image data.