Visualizing Phagocytic Activity (How Microglial Cells Phagocytose Beads)
Capable of stable time-lapse imaging
Source: Courtesy of Postdoctoral Research Scholar Tomomitsu Iida, Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California
(When published: Department of Pharmacology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine)
There are many technical barriers to successful time-lapse imaging, such as focus being lost due to cells moving and reduced cellular activity due to long hours of excitation light emission.
KEYENCE’s All-in-One Fluorescence Microscope can easily perform live imaging thanks to its focus tracking function, pulse excitation, and high-sensitivity camera.
The state of microglial phagocytosis—whether the beads are already taken into a cell or are attached to the surface of a cell—cannot be determined just with phase difference images.
In this case, phagocytic activity is visualized by fluorescent-labeling the beads and using a technique that makes them shine red when they are taken into a cell.
* Specifically, the beads are modified with a pH load (a substance that emits red fluorescence under acidic conditions), which makes the beads red when they are taken into a cell and fuse with acidic lysosomes.
The fluorescent visualization also makes it possible to quantitatively evaluate the cell count and the amount of beads that are taken into cells.
- Here are some examples of using the All-in-One Fluorescence Microscope BZ-X800 in front-line research.
- [Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS)] Stitching, Sectioning and the Z-Stack Function as Decisive Arguments for the Acquisition of the BZ Fluorescence Microscope at the University Hospital of Düsseldorf
- [Neuropathology] The perfect solution for everyday patient diagnostics and clinical research at the Institute of Neuropathology in the Charité hospital in Berlin
- [Regenerative Medicine] BZ Series Provides Essential Imaging for Neural Stem Cell and Spinal Observation
- [Gene Therapy] Improving Research for the Development of Gene Therapy Drugs
- [Heart Disease Treatment] Developing Cell Sheets for Myocardial Regenerative Treatments
- [Cancer Treatment] Automated Fluorescence Microscope Transforms Process for Induced Cancer Stem Cell Research
- [Immune System] BZ Series Contributes to Understanding the Pathological Model of Asthma
- [Biomaterials] Promoting Efficiency in Research With Compact, User-friendly Microscopes