RECENT PROGRESS IN MULTIFOCAL MULTIPHOTON MICROSCOPY

Advanced high resolution three-dimensional imaging to visualize the cerebral neurovascular network in stroke

As an important method to accurately and timely diagnose stroke and study physiological characteristics and pathological mechanism in it, imaging technology has gone through more than a century of iteration. The interaction of cells densely packed in the brain is three-dimensional (3D), but the flat images brought by traditional visualization methods show only a few cells and ignore connections outside the slices. The increased resolution allows for a more microscopic and underlying view. Today's intuitive 3D imagings of micron or even nanometer scale are showing its essentiality in stroke. In recent years, 3D imaging technology has gained rapid development. With the overhaul of imaging mediums and the innovation of imaging mode, the resolution has been significantly improved, endowing researchers with the capability of holistic observation of a large volume, real-time monitoring of tiny voxels, and quantitative measurement of spatial parameters. In this review, we will summarize the current methods of high-resolution 3D imaging applied in stroke.

Improving Signal and Photobleaching Characteristics of Temporal Focusing Microscopy with the Increase in Pulse Repetition Rate

Wide-field temporal focused (WF-TeFo) two-photon microscopy allows for the simultaneous imaging of a large planar area, with a potential order of magnitude enhancement in the speed of volumetric imaging. To date, low repetition rate laser sources with over half a millijoule per pulse have been required in order to provide the high peak power densities for effective two-photon excitation over the large area. However, this configuration suffers from reduced signal intensity due to the low repetition rate, saturation effects due to increased excitation fluences, as well as faster photobleaching of the fluorescence probe. In contrast, with the recent advent of high repetition rate, high pulse energy laser systems could potentially provide the advantages of high repetition rate systems that are seen in traditional two-photon microscopes, while minimizing the negatives of high fluences in WF-TeFo setups to date. Here, we use a 100 microjoule/high repetition rate (50–100 kHz) laser system to investigate the performance of a WF-TeFo two-photon microscope. While using micro-beads as a sample, we demonstrate a proportionate increase in signal intensity with repetition rate, at no added cost in photobleaching. By decreasing pulse intensity, via a corresponding increase in repetition rate to maintain fluorescence signal intensity, we find that the photobleaching rate is reduced by ~98.4%. We then image live C. elegans at a high repetition rate for 25 min. as a proof-of-principle. Lastly, we identify the steady state temperature increase as the limiting process in further increasing the repetition rate, and we estimate that repetition rate in the range between 0.5 and 5 MHz is ideal for live imaging with a simple theoretical model. With new generation low-cost fiber laser systems offering high pulse energy/high repetition rates in what is essentially a turn-key solution, we anticipate increased adoption of this microscopy technique by the neuroscience community.

High-resolution femtosecond laser beam shaping via digital holography

We propose a method to achieve high-resolution femtosecond laser beam shaping (HR-FLBS) via digital holography based on a digital mirror device (DMD) and optimized optical design. By programming the hologram on the DMD, we captured several patterns such as light spots, decorated letters of "HUST" (Huazhong University of Science and Technology), and a series of concentric annuli whose fine structure approaches the optical diffraction limit. The experimental results confirm that the proposed method can shape the amplitude and phase of a femtosecond laser arbitrarily with high resolution.

Advances in Intravital Non-Linear Optical Imaging of the Central Nervous System in Rodents

Purpose of review: Highly coordinated cellular interactions occur in the healthy or pathologic adult rodent central nervous system (CNS). Until recently, technical challenges have restricted the analysis of these events to largely static modes of study such as immuno-fluorescence and electron microscopy on fixed tissues. The development of intravital imaging with subcellular resolution is required to probe the dynamics of these events in their natural context, the living brain. Recent findings: This review focuses on the recently developed live non-linear optical imaging modalities, the core principles involved, the identified technical challenges that limit their use and the scope of their applications. We highlight some practical applications for these modalities with a specific attention given to Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis (EAE), a rodent model of a chronic inflammatory disease of the CNS characterized by the formation of disseminated demyelinating lesions accompanied by axonal degeneration. Summary: We conclude that label-free nonlinear optical imaging combined to two photon imaging will continue to contribute richly to comprehend brain function and pathogenesis and to develop effective therapeutic strategies.

Long-term intravital imaging of the multicolor-coded tumor microenvironment during combination immunotherapy

The combined-immunotherapy of adoptive cell therapy (ACT) and cyclophosphamide (CTX) is one of the most efficient treatments for melanoma patients. However, no synergistic effects of CTX and ACT on the spatio-temporal dynamics of immunocytes in vivo have been described. Here, we visualized key cell events in immunotherapy-elicited immunoreactions in a multicolor-coded tumor microenvironment, and then established an optimal strategy of metronomic combined-immunotherapy to enhance anti-tumor efficacy. Intravital imaging data indicated that regulatory T cells formed an 'immunosuppressive ring' around a solid tumor. The CTX-ACT combined-treatment elicited synergistic immunoreactions in tumor areas, which included relieving the immune suppression, triggering the transient activation of endogenous tumor-infiltrating immunocytes, increasing the accumulation of adoptive cytotoxic T lymphocytes, and accelerating the infiltration of dendritic cells. These insights into the spatio-temporal dynamics of immunocytes are beneficial for optimizing immunotherapy and provide new approaches for elucidating the mechanisms underlying the involvement of immunocytes in cancer immunotherapy.

DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.14756.001

Melanoma is a form of skin cancer that is particularly difficult to treat. A new approach that has shown a lot of promise in treating many different cancers, including melanoma, is called “immunotherapy”. This technique harnesses the immune system – the body’s natural defences that help to protect against infections and disease – to combat cancer.

One powerful type of immunotherapy involves injecting patients with cells called lymphocytes, which form part of the immune system. This is known as adoptive cell therapy and can activate the immune system to fight cancer, helping to shrink tumors. This treatment can be made even more powerful by combining it with a drug called cyclophosphamide and this combination, known as CTX-ACT, is currently one of the most efficient treatments for melanoma. Yet, little information is available to indicate why this treatment is so effective.

Using mice implanted with melanoma cells, Qi, Li et al. sought to understand how CTX-ACT treatment works, with the goal of optimising it to increase its success. The results showed that a protective barrier of immune cells that suppresses the anti-tumor immune response – called an “immunosuppressive ring” – surrounds untreated tumors. CTX-ACT treatment can breakdown these rings, helping to reactivate the anti-tumor immune reaction in the tumors. This allows both the injected and mouse’s own immune cells to move into the tumor and destroy cancer cells.

Qi, Li et al. used their findings to optimise treatment and succeeded in controlling tumor growth in the mice for several weeks. These new insights could be used to improve current immunotherapies, and offer new approaches for investigating the involvement of immune cells in the treatment of a wide range of different cancers.

DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.14756.002

Reconstruction of micron resolution mouse brain surface from large-scale imaging dataset using resampling-based variational model

Brain surface profile is essential for brain studies, including registration, segmentation of brain structure and drawing neuronal circuits. Recent advances in high-throughput imaging techniques enable imaging whole mouse brain at micron spatial resolution and provide a basis for more fine quantitative studies in neuroscience. However, reconstructing micron resolution brain surface from newly produced neuronal dataset still faces challenges. Most current methods apply global analysis, which are neither applicable to a large imaging dataset nor to a brain surface with an inhomogeneous signal intensity. Here, we proposed a resampling-based variational model for this purpose. In this model, the movement directions of the initial boundary elements are fixed, the final positions of the initial boundary elements that form the brain surface are determined by the local signal intensity. These features assure an effective reconstruction of the brain surface from a new brain dataset. Compared with conventional typical methods, such as level set based method and active contour method, our method significantly increases the recall and precision rates above 97% and is approximately hundreds-fold faster. We demonstrated a fast reconstruction at micron level of the whole brain surface from a large dataset of hundreds of GB in size within 6 hours.

Simultaneous measurement of pressure and temperature by employing Fabry-Perot interferometer based on pendant polymer droplet

We investigated a novel and ultracompact polymer-capped Fabry-Perot interferometer, which is based on a polymer capped on the endface of a single mode fiber (SMF). The proposed Fabry-Perot interferometer has advantages of easy fabrication, low cost, and high sensitivity. The variation of the Fabry-Perot cavity length can be easily controlled by using the motors of a normal arc fusion splicer. Moreover, the enhanced mechanical strength of the Fabry-Perot interferometer makes it suitable for high sensitivity pressure and temperature sensing in harsh environments. The proposed interferometer exhibits a wavelength shift of the interference fringes that corresponds to a temperature sensitivity of 249 pm/°C and a pressure sensitivity of 1130 pm/MPa, respectively, around the wavelength of 1560 nm.

Digital reconstruction of the cell body in dense neural circuits using a spherical-coordinated variational model

Mapping the neuronal circuits is essential to understand brain function. Recent technological advancements have made it possible to acquire the brain atlas at single cell resolution. Digital reconstruction of the neural circuits down to this level across the whole brain would significantly facilitate brain studies. However, automatic reconstruction of the dense neural connections from microscopic image still remains a challenge. Here we developed a spherical-coordinate based variational model to reconstruct the shape of the cell body i.e. soma, as one of the procedures for this purpose. When intuitively processing the volumetric images in the spherical coordinate system, the reconstruction of somas with variational model is no longer sensitive to the interference of the complicated neuronal morphology, and could automatically and robustly achieve accurate soma shape regardless of the dense spatial distribution, and diversity in cell size, and morphology. We believe this method would speed drawing the neural circuits and boost brain studies.

Multi-scale optical imaging of the delayed type hypersensitivity reaction attenuated by rapamycin

Neutrophils and monocytes/macrophages (MMs) play important roles in the development of cell-mediated delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH). However, the dynamics of neutrophils and MMs during the DTH reaction and how the immunosuppressant rapamycin modulates their behavior in vivo are rarely reported. Here, we take advantage of multi-scale optical imaging techniques and a footpad DTH reaction model to non-invasively investigate the dynamic behavior and properties of immune cells from the whole field of the footpad to the cellular level. During the classic elicitation phase of the DTH reaction, both neutrophils and MMs obviously accumulated at inflammatory foci at 24 h post-challenge. Rapamycin treatment resulted in advanced neutrophil recruitment and vascular hyperpermeability at an early stage (4 h), the reduced accumulation of neutrophils (> 50% inhibition ratio) at 48 h, and the delayed involvement of MMs in inflammatory foci. The motility parameters of immune cells in the rapamycin-treated reaction at 4 h post-challenge displayed similar mean velocities, arrest durations, mean displacements, and confinements as the classic DTH reaction at 24 h. These results indicate that rapamycin treatment shortened the initial preparation stage of the DTH reaction and attenuated its intensity, which may be due to the involvement of T helper type 2 cells or regulatory T cells.

Dynamic fluorescence lifetime imaging based on acousto-optic deflectors

We report a dynamic fluorescence lifetime imaging (D-FLIM) system that is based on a pair of acousto-optic deflectors for the random regions of interest (ROI) study in the sample. The two-dimensional acousto-optic deflector devices are used to rapidly scan the femtosecond excitation laser beam across the sample, providing specific random access to the ROI. Our experimental results using standard fluorescent dyes in live cancer cells demonstrate that the D-FLIM system can dynamically monitor the changing process of the microenvironment in the ROI in live biological samples.