Streamlined intravital imaging approach for long-term monitoring of epithelial cell dynamics on an inverted confocal microscope

Abstract

Understanding normal and aberrant in vivo cell behaviors is necessary to develop clinical interventions to thwart disease initiation and progression. It is therefore critical to optimize imaging approaches that facilitate the observation of cell dynamics in situ, where tissue structure and composition remain unperturbed. The epidermis is the body's outermost barrier as well as the source of the most prevalent human cancers, namely cutaneous skin carcinomas. The accessibility of skin tissue presents a unique opportunity to monitor epithelial and dermal cell behaviors in intact animals using noninvasive intravital microscopy. Nevertheless, this sophisticated imaging approach has primarily been achieved using upright multiphoton microscopes, which represents a significant barrier-for-entry for most investigators. In this study, we present a custom-designed 3D-printed microscope stage insert suitable for use with inverted confocal microscopes that streamlines long-term intravital imaging of ear skin in live transgenic mice. We believe this versatile invention, which may be customized to fit the inverted microscope brand and model of choice, as well as adapted to image additional organ systems, will prove invaluable to the greater scientific research community by significantly enhancing the accessibility of intravital microscopy. This technological advancement is critical to bolster our understanding of live cell dynamics in both normal and disease contexts.