How molecular microscopy revealed new insights into the dynamics of hepatic endothelial fenestrae in the past decade.

This review discusses the current state of knowledge about the ultrastructure of hepatic endothelial fenestrae. The application of different high-resolution correlative microscopic methods during the past decade facilitated the accumulation of new insights in the morpho-functional and structural organization of the liver sieve. The data gathered unambiguously show the involvement of special domains in de novo formation and disappearance of fenestrae, and focuses future research into the (supra)molecular structure of the fenestrae-forming center, defenestration center and fenestrae-associated cytoskeleton ring by using cryo-electron microscopic tomography.