We fabricated and assembled the flexible chamber system for time-lapse SRS imaging (Figure 1 and Figure 2), and then evaluated the performance of the system. The temperature inside the microscope environmental enclosure reached the expected 37 °C within 1 h, which did not significantly affect the room temperature (Figure 3A). The temperature in the flexible chamber reached 37 °C in 1.5 h, and it was stably maintained at 37 °C for at least 24 h (Figure 3B). The relative humidity in the flexible chamber could reach 85% in 1 h, and then be maintained for at least 24 h (Figure 3C). The measured temperature and humidity data confirm that this system can provide an optimal environment for long-term cell growth.
Live-cell imaging with SRS has been applied to many biological and biomedical studies20,21,22,23,24. In particular, SRS imaging of label-free LDs in live cells to understand lipid metabolism in cancer has drawn much attention16,25,26. Using the designed flexible chamber system, we first performed time-lapse SRS imaging of live SKOV3 cells for 24 h with a time interval of 3 min (Figure 4). The video data showed the rapid and active movement of intracellular LDs with a temporal resolution of 3 min. By the end of the 24 h imaging session, the cells still showed normal morphology and density, indicating that the cells were healthy. We then imaged SKOV3 cells treated with oleic acid (OA) and tracked the dynamic process of LD accumulation within 10 h (Figure 5A).
The LD amounts were quantified in the OA-treated SKOV3 cells in two ways (LD to cell body area ratio and total SRS intensity of the LDs) using ImageJ19. The results indicate that the amount of LDs (in size and number) kept increasing over 10 h (Figure 5B). We also demonstrated simultaneous forward-SRS imaging of LDs (pseudo color green) and backward two-photon fluorescence (TPF) imaging of lysosomes (pseudo color red) labeled with a fluorescence dye DND-189 (Figure 6). It is noted that SRS/TPF dual-modality imaging can be used to analyze the colocalization of two cellular compartments. In this experiment, a very low degree of colocalization of LDs and lysosomes was observed, which was indicated by the small yellow regions. Collectively, these results demonstrate that the flexible chamber system enables stable, long-term, time-lapse SRS imaging of live cells, which can be used for various imaging applications in the future.

Figure 1: The flexible chamber system for time-lapse SRS imaging of live cells. (A) Schematic of the flexible chamber system for time-lapse SRS imaging of live cells. (B) The image on the left shows the thermal insulation layer using a silicone rubber sheet and MICA ceramic pads underneath the microscope frame and the stage. The image on the right shows the environmental microscope enclosure and the flexible chamber. Abbreviations: SRS = stimulated Raman scattering; CCM = cubic centimeters per min. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.

Figure 2: Schematic and images of the flexible chamber with the SRS optical path, allowing three-dimensional free movement of the water dipping objective for focusing and imaging. The left images show the two machined aluminum modules connected to a commercial objective nosepiece and a modified sample holder. The bottom images show the assembly flexible chamber system. Abbreviation: SRS = stimulated Raman scattering. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.

Figure 3: Temperature and humidity data of the microscope enclosure and the flexible chamber. (A) The measured temperature data of the microscope enclosure and the lab room temperature, up to 12 h. (B) The measured temperature data (average at 37 °C) within the flexible chamber, up to 24 h. (C) The measured relative humidity data (average at 85%) within the flexible chamber, up to 24 h. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.

Figure 4: Representative 24 frames of time-lapse SRS imaging. Time-lapse SRS imaging (at 2,854 cm-1) of live SKOV3 cells using the flexible chamber, up to 24 h. In this experiment, 480 frames were recorded with a fixed time interval of 3 min. Cells were cultured under normal conditions. Scale bar = 50 µm. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.

Figure 5: Time-lapse SRS imaging and lipid droplet quantification. (A) Representative 10 frames of time-lapse SRS imaging (at 2,854 cm-1) of live SKOV3 cells treated with 500 µM OA, up to 10 h, using the flexible chamber. In this experiment, 200 frames were recorded with a fixed time interval of 3 min. Scale bar = 50 µm. (B) The amount of LDs versus time (0-10 h) was quantified in two ways (LD/cell body area ratio and total SRS intensity of LDs) using the thresholding function and the particle analysis functions in ImageJ. Abbreviations: SRS = stimulated Raman spectroscopy; OA = oleic acid; LDs= lipid droplets. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.

Figure 6: Time-lapse, simultaneous SRS and two-photon fluorescence imaging for LDs and lysosomes. Time-lapse, simultaneous SRS (at 2,854 cm-1), and two-photon fluorescence imaging for LDs (pseudo color green) and lysosomes (red), up to 2 h. Cells were treated with a fluorescence dye (LysoSensor DND-189, 1 µM) for 1 h before imaging. Images were taken every 3 min. Scale bar = 50 µm. A low degree of colocalization of LDs and lysosomes were observed, indicated with the yellow color. Abbreviations: SRS = stimulated Raman spectroscopy; LDs= lipid droplets. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.