Functional In Vivo Imaging of Macrophages

Abstract

Resident tissue macrophages (RTMs) are specialized phagocytes that are widely distributed throughout the body and are responsible for maintaining homeostasis. Recent advances in experimental techniques have enabled us to gain a greater insight into the actual in vivo biology of RTMs by observing their spatiotemporal dynamics directly in their native environment. Here, we detail a method for live tracking macrophages in a prototypical stromal tissue with high spatial and temporal resolution and great experimental versatility. Our approach builds on a custom intravital imaging platform and straightforward surgical preparation to gain access to an intact stromal compartment in order to analyze the morphological and behavioral dynamics of RTMs at single-cell resolution before and after experimental intervention. Furthermore, our versatile approach can also be utilized for live visualization of intracellular signaling and even for tracking cell organelles at subcellular resolution, and can be combined with downstream analyses such as multiplex confocal imaging, providing a unique insight into macrophage biology in vivo.

Keywords: In vivo imaging; Intravital imaging; Laser lesion; Peritoneum; Time-lapse microscopy; Tissue macrophages; Two-photon imaging.