Longitudinal Intravital Imaging Through Clear Silicone WindowsLaura Maiorino *1,2,3, Margaret Shevik *1,4,5, José M. Adrover 1, Xiao Han 1,6, Elias Georgas 7,8, John Erby Wilkinson 9, Harrison Seidner 1, Leonie Foerschner 1, David A. Tuveson 1, Yi-Xian Qin 8, Mikala Egeblad 1
1Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 2Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory School of Biological Sciences, 3Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 4Medical Scientist Training Program, School of Medicine, Stony Brook University, 5Graduate Program in Pharmacology, Stony Brook University, 6Graduate Program in Genetics, Stony Brook University, 7Graduate Program in Biomedical Engineering, Stony Brook University, 8Department of Biomedical Engineering, Stony Brook University, 9Department of Pathology, University of Michigan
An approach is here presented for long-term intravital imaging using optically clear, silicone windows that can be glued directly to the tissue/organ of interest and the skin. These windows are cheaper and more versatile than others currently used in the field, and the surgical insertion causes limited inflammation and distress to the animals.