Intravital Imaging of Inflammatory Response in Liver Disease

Abstract

The healthy liver requires a strictly controlled crosstalk between immune and nonimmune cells to maintain its function and homeostasis. A well-conditioned immune system can effectively recognize and clear noxious stimuli by a self-limited, small-scale inflammatory response. This regulated inflammatory process enables the liver to cope with daily microbial exposure and metabolic stress, which is beneficial for hepatic self-renewal and tissue remodeling. However, the failure to clear noxious stimuli or dysregulation of immune response can lead to uncontrolled liver inflammation, liver dysfunction, and severe liver disease. Numerous highly dynamic circulating immune cells and sessile resident immune and parenchymal cells interact and communicate with each other in an incredibly complex way to regulate the inflammatory response in both healthy and diseased liver. Intravital imaging is a powerful tool to visualize individual cells in vivo and has been widely used for dissecting the behavior and interactions between various cell types in the complex architecture of the liver. Here, we summarize some new findings obtained with the use of intravital imaging, which enhances our understanding of the complexity of immune cell behavior, cell–cell interaction, and spatial organization during the physiological and pathological liver inflammatory response.

High Plasma Vitamin B12 and Cancer in Human Studies: A Scoping Review to Judge Causality and Alternative Explanations

“…Neutrophils are determinately important for cell repair and defense against insults including inflammation and cancer [ 50 , 51 ]. These immune cells are typically recruited to the affected cellular site and are capable of eliminating pathogens by multiple mechanisms [ 52 ]. These cells originate from hematopoietic cords in the bone marrow and have a short lifespan after their release into the circulation.…”