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Studying the flow dynamics of the blood cells in the retinal and choroidal circulation is imperative to understanding the pathogenesis of potentially vision-threatening ocular diseases and other ocular inflammatory conditions. However, the conventional angiography techniques, which involve the binding of fluorescent dyes to plasma proteins, do not provide any information regarding the dynamics of the erythrocytes or leukocytes1. The erythrocyte retinal flow dynamics are important for studying metabolically efficient circulation in the retina, and the leukocyte flow dynamics, for understanding the cell migration, recognition, adhesion and destruction in various inflammatory conditions2. There are several fluorescent molecules used in the identification and characterization of various cell types3. The hemodynamics of the blood cells can be measured by staining them with the appropriate fluorescent dyes and applying the proper imaging techniques4.
The presence of inflammatory responses in intraocular diseases like age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic retinopathy (DR) involve the accumulation of lymphocytes in the diseased area5,6. Tracking the immune cells in the tissues can help understand the complex events involved in the mechanism of disease pathogenesis. Radioactive isotopes like 51Cr and 125I were used as cell tracers in early studies. These dyes are toxic and affect the cell viability. Although the radioactive markers 3H and 14C are less toxic to the cells, due to their lower emission energies, it is difficult to detect their signals in the system7,8. A number of fluorochrome dyes were introduced to overcome the potential problems associated with radioactive markers and track lymphocyte migration in vitro using fluorescent microscopy and flow cytometry9,10. Hoechst 33342 and thiazole orange are DNA binding fluorescent dyes, which are used to track lymphocytes in vivo. Hoechst 33342 binds to AT-rich regions in the DNA, is membrane permeable, retains fluorescent signals for 2 - 4 days and is resistant to quenching9,10. The disadvantages of Hoechst 33342 and thiazole orange are the inhibition of lymphocyte proliferation11 and the short half-life, respectively9.
Calcein-AM, fluorescein diacetate (FDA), 2′,7′-bis-(2-carboxyethyl)-5-(and-6)-carboxyfluorescein, acetoxymethyl ester (BCECF-AM), 5-(and-6)-carboxyfluorescein diacetate (CFDA), and 5-(and-6)-carboxyfluorescein diacetate acetoxymethyl ester (CFDA-AM) are the cytoplasmic fluorescent dyes used for lymphocyte migration studies. However, FDA, CFDA and CFDA-AM have lower retention in the cells9. BCECF-AM reduces the proliferative response and influences the chemotaxis and superoxide production9,12. Calcein-AM is a fluorescent dye and useful for short-term in vivo lymphocyte migration studies. It emits strong fluorescent signals, does not interfere with most of the cellular functions and retains fluorescent signals for up to 3 days12,13. Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) and carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester (CFDA-SE) are covalent coupling fluorescent dyes, which are used for lymphocyte migration studies. FITC exhibits no effect on the cell viability and has a stronger affinity with B lymphocytes than T lymphocytes14,15. The CFDA-SE labeled lymphocytes can be tracked in vivo for more than 8 weeks and up to 8 cell divisions9,16. C18 DiI (1,1'-dioctadecyl-3,3,3',3'-tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate), DiO (3,3'-dioctadecyloxacarbocyanine perchlorate), Paul Karl Horan (PKH)2, PKH3, and PKH26 are membrane-inserting fluorescent lipophilic carbocyanine dyes used to label leukocytes and erythrocytes. C18 Dil and DiO exhibit higher signals when incorporated into the cell membrane and are relatively non-toxic12,17. PKH2, PKH3 and PKH26 labeled cells exhibit a good retention of the fluorescent signals with less toxicity18,19,20,21,22. However, PKH2 down regulates the CD62L expression and reduces the lymphocyte viability23.
Most of the above-mentioned studies have been performed for tracking the lymphocyte migration and proliferation in the lymphatics and studying the labeled erythrocytes in the non-ocular circulation. There are very few studies applying the labeling techniques to study the blood cells in the ocular circulation. Application of scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (SLO) has a great advantage in studying the labeled cells in the retinal and choroidal circulation in vivo by fundus angiography24. There are several fluorescent dyes, such as ICG, acridine orange, FITC, sodium fluorescein, and CFDA that are used to study the leukocytes in the retinal circulation by SLO25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34. The phototoxicity and carcinogenicity of acridine orange26,27, the interference of FITC with the cellular activity, and the requirement of an intravascular contrast agent for the resolution of the retinal and choroidal blood vessels limits their application in in vivo animal experiments29. Sodium fluorescein and ICG are non-toxic, approved by the Food and Drug Administration, and safe for testing on humans32,35. Most of the flow dynamic studies are related to the labeling of the leukocytes or erythrocytes and its visualization in the retinal and choroidal blood vessels36,37,38,39. Here, we describe a standardized protocol of ICG labeling of the erythrocytes, sodium fluorescein labeling of the leukocytes, and tracking the visualized labeled cells in the mouse retinal circulation using SLO.