PuSH - Publication Server of Helmholtz Zentrum München

Razansky, D. ; Distel, M.* ; Vinegoni, R.* ; Koester, L.* ; Ntziachristos, V.

Going deeper than microscopy with Multispectral Optoacoustic Tomography (MSOT) of fluorescent proteins in-vivo.

Vortrag: World Molecular Imaging Congress, 25th September 2009, Montreal, Canada. (2009)
Fluorescence proteins (FP) have become essential reporter molecules for studying life at the cellular level, from interrogating molecular pathways and protein function to cell migration and organism development, re-defining the ways we look into biology. Despite significant technological progress, high-resolution imaging is limited by photon scattering, therefore state of the art optical microscopy typically operates at depths between a few hundred microns to one millimeter. Correspondingly, a significant part of in-vivo biological research revolves around optically transparent stages of development or post-mortem studies of chemically treated specimen. This work reports on the development of multi-spectral optoacoustic tomography (MSOT) method that utilizes illumination of the sample at different wavelengths for effective detection of distinct spectral signatures from FPs, dyes and other chromophores. We describe previously undocumented capacity of visualizing optical reporter molecules deep inside optically diffuse tissues with spatial resolution of about 38 microns, while simultaneously providing the reference anatomical images. Fig. 1a shows three-dimensional optoacoustic images of a head of a living adult zebrafish having cross-section of about 6 mm. The multispectral (MSOT) reconstruction is shown in Fig. 1b revealing the precise location of mCherry FP expression in the brain in high congruence with the corresponding histology. Moreover, as demonstrated in phantom experiments, several centimeters of penetration with nearly same resolution can be achieved. Indeed, size of many important model organisms, e.g. worms, developing and adult insects and vertebrates including small mammals and their extremities, lie in this range and could be visualized. As such, MSOT can find very diverse applications in studying signaling pathways and gene expression, morphogenesis, decease progression and many other targeted mechanisms through whole bodies of opaque living organisms and animals.
Additional Metrics?
[➜Log in]
Edit extra informations Login
Publication type Other: Lecture
Corresponding Author
Conference Title World Molecular Imaging Congress
Conference Date 25th September 2009
Conference Location Montreal, Canada
Non-patent literature Publications
Institute(s) Institute of Biological and Medical Imaging (IBMI)