Spectral Multiphoton Microscope

• Subject Area: Medicine
• Term: Funded in 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 434126448

Imaging techniques are essential methods in basic immunological research to describe pathophysiological processes at the cellular level regarding microanatomy and interactions of different cell types. Conventional methods such as (immuno)histochemistry or immunofluorescence microscopy on thin-slice preparations are limited in the number of describable parameters and by the fact that no dynamic processes such as cellular interactions can be imaged. Two-photon Intravital laser scanning microscopy (TPSLM) allows non-invasive imaging of the anesthetized, living organism (typically mice) with a depth of up to 100μm into the liver (conventional TPLSM) or even beyond (infrared TPLSM using OPO laser excitation). Several hours of imaging allow us to describe cellular infiltration, migration and the interaction of different cells. Conventional TPLSM microscopes, due to their detection technique, are usually limited to the use of a maximum of 3 colors, and are often severely affected by, for example, the background fluorescence of the tissue. The use of spectral detection units allows the examination of 6-8 colors simultaneously. At the CVK site, no such advanced microscope for high-end intravital applications and high-resolution 3D cell tomography on stained and cleared tissue explants is currently available, emphasizing the need of the proposed microscope.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Spektral-Multiphotonenmikroskop
• Instrumentation Group: 5090 Spezialmikroskope
• Applicant Institution: Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
• Leader: Professor Frank Tacke, Ph.D.