Microspectroscopic measurement of the optical properties of rat liver in the visible region

In vivo oxygen imaging using green fluorescent protein

In vivo oxygen measurement is the key to understanding how biological systems dynamically adapt to reductions in oxygen supply. High spatial resolution oxygen imaging is of particular importance because recent studies address the significance of within-tissue and within-cell heterogeneities in oxygen concentration in health and disease. Here, we report a new technique for in vivo molecular imaging of oxygen in organs using green fluorescent protein (GFP). GFP-expressing COS-7 cells were briefly photoactivated with a strong blue light while lowering the oxygen concentration from 10% to <0.001%. Red fluorescence (excitation 520–550 nm, emission >580 nm) appeared after photoactivation at <2% oxygen (the red shift of GFP fluorescence). The red shift disappeared after reoxygenation of the cell, indicating that the red shift is stable as long as the cell is hypoxic. The red shift of GFP fluorescence was also demonstrated in single cardiomyocytes isolated from the GFP knock-in mouse (green mouse) heart. Then, we tried in vivo molecular imaging of hypoxia in organs. The red shift could be imaged in the ischemic liver and kidney in the green mouse using macroscopic optics provided that oxygen diffusion from the atmospheric air was prevented. In crystalloid-perfused beating heart isolated from the green mouse, significant spatial heterogeneities in the red shift were demonstrated in the epicardium distal to the coronary artery ligation. We conclude that the present technique using GFP as an oxygen indicator may allow in vivo molecular imaging of oxygen in organs.

Optical properties of human normal small intestine tissue determined by Kubelka-Munk method in vitro

AIM: To study the optical properties of human normal small intestine tissue at 476.5 nm, 488 nm, 496.5 nm, 514.5 nm, 532 nm, 808 nm wavelengths of laser irradiation.

METHODS: A double-integrating-sphere system, the basic principle of measuring technology of light radiation, and an optical model of biological tissues were used in the study.

RESULTS: The results of measurement showed that there were no significant differences in the absorption coefficients of human normal small intestine tissue at 476.5 nm, 488 nm, 496.5 nm laser in the Kubelka-Munk two-flux model (P > 0.05). The absorption coefficients of the tissue at 514.5 nm, 532 nm, 808 nm laser irradiation were obviously increased with the decrease of these wavelengths. The scattering coefficients of the tissue at 476.5 nm, 488 nm, 496.5 nm laser irradiation were increased with the decrease of these wavelengths. The scattering coefficients at 496.5 nm, 514.5 nm, 532 nm laser irradiation were obviously increased with the increase of these wavelengths. The scattering coefficient of the tissue at 532 nm laser irradiation was bigger than that at 808 nm. There were no significant differences in the total attenuation coefficient of the tissue at 476.5 nm and 488 nm laser irradiation (P > 0.05). The total attenuation coefficient of the tissue at 488 nm, 496.5 nm, 514.5 nm, 532 nm, 808 nm laser irradiation was obviously increased with the decrease of these wavelengths, and their effective attenuation coefficient revealed the same trend. There were no significant differences among the forward scattered photon fluxe, backward scattered photon fluxe, and total scattered photon fluxe of the tissue at 476.5 nm, 488 nm, 496.5 nm laser irradiation. They were all obviously increased with attenuation of tissue thickness. The attenuations of forward and backward scattered photon fluxes, and the total scattered photon fluxe of the tissue at 514.5 nm laser irradiation were slower than those at 476.5 nm, 488 nm, 496.5 nm laser irradiation respectively. The attenuations of forward and backward scattered photon fluxes, and total scattered photon fluxes at 532 nm laser irradiation were obviously slower than those at 476.5 nm, 488 nm, 496.5 nm, 514.5 nm laser irradiation. The attenuations of forward and backward scattered photon fluxes, and total scattered photon fluxe at 808 nm laser irradiation were all obviously slower than those at 476.5 nm, 488 nm, 496.5 nm, 514.5 nm, 532 nm laser irradiation respectively.

CONCLUSION: There are significant differences in optical parameters of human normal small intestine tissue in the Kubelka-Munk two-flux model at six different wavelengths of laser radiation. The results would provide a new method of information analysis for clinical diagnosis.

The sites of respiratory gas exchange in the planktonic crustacean daphnia magna: an in vivo study employing blood haemoglobin as an internal oxygen probe

Recent studies on Daphnia magna have revealed that the feeding current is important for uptake of oxygen from the ambient medium. Respiratory gas exchange should therefore mainly occur within the filtering chamber, whose boundaries are formed by the trunk and the extended carapace shell valves. The precise site of gas exchange in the genus Daphnia is, however, a matter of conjecture. We have developed a method of imaging the haemoglobin oxygen-saturation in the circulatory system of transparent animals, which provides an opportunity to localize oxygen uptake from the environment and oxygen release to the tissues. Experiments were carried out at 20 degrees C on 2.8-3.0 mm long parthenogenetic females maintained in hypoxic culturing conditions, which had resulted in an increased haemoglobin content in the haemolymph. In lateral views of D. magna, the highest values of haemoglobin oxygen-saturation occurred near the posterior margin of the carapace and, surprisingly, in the rostral part of the head. The ambient oxygen partial pressures at which haemoglobin was half-oxygenated were 15 mmHg (2.0 kPa) for the posterior carapace region and 6 mmHg (0.8 kPa) for the rostrum. Although not all parts of the circulatory system could be analyzed using this technique, the data obtained from the accessible regions suggest that the inner wall of the carapace is a major site of respiratory gas exchange. Taking the circulatory pattern and the flow pattern of the medium in the filtering chamber into consideration, it becomes clear that the haemolymph, after passing from the limbs to the carapace lacuna, becomes oxygenated while flowing through the ventral part of the double-walled carapace in a posterior direction. The laterally flattened rostral region, where sensory and central nervous system structures are located, seems to have direct diffusive access to ambient oxygen, which could be especially advantageous during severe hypoxia when the convective transport systems fail to supply enough oxygen to that region.