Liu, ZhenXing, DongSu, Qian PeterZhu, YunZhang, JiameiKong, XinyuXue, BoxinWang, ShengSun, HaoTao, YileSun, Yujie2014-09-082014Liu, Z., D. Xing, Q. P. Su, Y. Zhu, J. Zhang, X. Kong, B. Xue, et al. 2014. “Super-resolution imaging and tracking of protein–protein interactions in sub-diffraction cellular space.” Nature Communications 5 (1): 4443. doi:10.1038/ncomms5443. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms5443.2041-1723http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:12785855Imaging the location and dynamics of individual interacting protein pairs is essential but often difficult because of the fluorescent background from other paired and non-paired molecules, particularly in the sub-diffraction cellular space. Here we develop a new method combining bimolecular fluorescence complementation and photoactivated localization microscopy for super-resolution imaging and single-molecule tracking of specific protein–protein interactions. The method is used to study the interaction of two abundant proteins, MreB and EF-Tu, in Escherichia coli cells. The super-resolution imaging shows interesting distribution and domain sizes of interacting MreB–EF-Tu pairs as a subpopulation of total EF-Tu. The single-molecule tracking of MreB, EF-Tu and MreB–EF-Tu pairs reveals intriguing localization-dependent heterogonous dynamics and provides valuable insights to understanding the roles of MreB–EF-Tu interactions.en-USJournal Article2014-09-0810.1038/ncomms5443