Intravital Microscopy - Advances in Tools and Technologies for 4D Intravital Microscopy

TOPICAL COLLECTIONS

Guest Editors

David Entenberg

Einstein’s Gruss-Lipper Biophotonics Center, Director of Technological Development and Integrated Imaging & Einstein College of Medicine, Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology,Assistant Professor

Dr. David Entenberg is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology at Einstein College of Medicine. He currently serves as the Director of Technological Development and Integrated Imaging within Einstein’s Gruss-Lipper Biophotonics Center and its associated Integrated Imaging Program. With a background in experimental quantum physics, he transitioned into biological sciences by developing novel instrumentation and engineering-based assays for biological research, obtaining his PhD in cell biology from the University of Kent in Canterbury, England. Dr. Entenberg’s group now focuses on investigating the mechanisms of metastasis through the development of novel and innovative imaging techniques that provide high-resolution visualization of the tumor microenvironment in primary and secondary sites.

Seham Ebrahim

National Cancer Institute of the NIH, Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology

Dr. Seham Ebrahim is a Research Fellow in the Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology led by Dr. Roberto Weigert at the National Cancer Institute of the NIH. Since acquiring her PhD in Biological Sciences at Queen Mary University of London, Dr. Ebrahim’s overall research has centered around actomyosin cell biology in the mammalian inner-ear and, currently, the digestive tract. In vivo, these two cytoskeletal components employ myriad distinct architectures, dynamics, and interactions for specialized functions that cannot be fully recapitulated and studied in vitro. This inspired Dr. Ebrahim to develop expertise in intravital microscopy (IVM) and study 4D cytoskeletal cellular physiology in its native environment. She currently uses a combination of mouse genetics and high-resolution IVM to investigate the subcellular roles of actin, myosin and septin networks in gastrointestinal physiopathology in vivo.

Collection Overview

Fluorescence-based light microscopy has driven enormous progress in our understanding of biology. However, a majority of these studies have been carried out on cells in vitro or tissues ex vivo, which often do not reflect the 3D environment, complex signaling pathways, feedback networks, or natural dynamics of biological processes in vivo.

Intravital microscopy (IVM), the imaging of live animals at microscopic resolution, enables the study of these biological processes in vivo, and their native environs. Long considered a technically challenging art form, the past decade has seen a wide range of advances in technologies and tools for IVM, making it increasingly possible to conduct reproducible, mechanistic studies and derive unparalleled quantitative and dynamic insights into cell and tissue biology during development, homeostasis, and disease. These advances include imaging technologies that allow subcellular or functional IVM, specialized surgical protocols and hardware to enhance access to and stability of tissues for long-term image-acquisition, and the generation of new animal models and fluorescent probes to address an ever-increasing number of physiological questions.

Unfortunately, the nuances of many of these developments are not easily conveyed via written protocols alone and would benefit greatly from a visual depiction. To this end, we aim for this Methods Collection to focus on the latest IVM methods and technologies, from the subcellular to the tissue scale. Our goal is both to make these contributions accessible to adoption by the wider scientific community, as well as to highlight their impact on the fields of cell biology, immunology, cancer biology, nephrology, neuroscience, and developmental biology.