The authors would like to thank Neurotar Ltd. for technical assistance, CIMO Foundation and FGSN for financial support.

Procedures involving animal subjects have been approved by the National Animal Experiment Board, Finland.
1. Animal Preparation for Imaging
<ol>
	<li>Anesthetize a mouse by intraperitional (IP) injection of ketamine (0.08 mg per body weight) and xylazine (0.01 mg per body weight). Check the anesthesia with the rear toe pinch reflex.</li>
	<li>Immerse animal&#8217;s eyes in eye drops (Viscotears) to protect the eyes from dehydration.</li>
	<li>Put the mouse on a heating pad (Supertech) at 37&#160;&#176;C to preve...

<ol>
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K. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Morton's+interdigital+neuroma:+a+clinical+review+of+its+etiology,+treatment,+and+results.">Morton's interdigital neuroma: a clinical review of its etiology, treatment, and results.</a> J. Foot Ankle Surg. 35, 112-119 (1996).</li><li>Lauria, G., Lombardi, R. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Skin+biopsy:+a+new+tool+for+diagnosing+peripheral+neuropathy.">Skin biopsy: a new tool for diagnosing peripheral neuropathy.</a> BMJ. 334, 1159-1162 (2007).</li><li>Cheng, C., Guo, G. F., Martinez, J. A., Singh, V., Zochodne, D. 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The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests.

In this video protocol we demonstrate the method for non-invasive longitudinal two-photon imaging of single nerve endings.
The dynamics of skin innervations is affected in such diseases as psoriasis and peripheral neuropathy2, and in traumatic injuries9. Two-photon imaging allows detailed analysis of the nerve fibers structures in collagen matrix. The use of transgenic reporter mice helps to avoid the problems concerning the staining of the nerve fibers. Thy1-YFP-H strain...

A correction was made to <a href="/video/51045">In Vivo Two-Photon Microscopy of Single Nerve Endings in Skin</a>.
Leonard Khiroug was removed as an author.

Erratum: In Vivo Two-Photon Microscopy of Single Nerve Endings in Skin

Cutaneous nerve endings undergo dynamical changes under different pathophysiological states. Nerve fibers can go through the process of degeneration and regeneration or restructuring in the course of such diseases as peripheral neuropathy2 or Morton&#8217;s neuroma3. After traumatic injury, an important part of nerve endings dynamics in skin is reinnervation of the damaged area. However, the common approach for investigation of nerve endings is ex vivo histological sectioning that lacks real-time information on the ongoing processes4. Using genetically encoded fluorescent markers, it is possible to track the nerve endings in skin of live animals, thus obtaining rich and significantly more relevant information on the structural changes. The investigation of cutaneous nerve endings is possible using conventional fluorescent microscopy, however, the strong light scattering of the skin tissue strongly undermines the quality of the data acquired5. Multiphoton microscopy allows acquisition of high-resolution images in the strongly scattering tissues due to the non-linear summation of energy of excitation light photons resulting in emission of fluorescence only from the focal point of the objective. This effect leads to a robust increase in the penetration depth and improvement of signal-to-noise ratio for the measurement in skin tissues6.&#160; Using the same laser as for imaging, it is possible to produce selective dissection of the nerve fibers7. In the following protocol we show the method of longitudinal imaging of cutaneous nerve endings in vivo in reporter transgenic mice combined with selective laser lesion using commercially available multiphoton microscope system.

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="1231">
	<colgroup>
		<col />
		<col />
		<col />
		<col />
	</colgroup>
	<tbody>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Round cover glass&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:209px;">Electron Microscopy Science</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">72296-05</td>
			<td style="width:687px;">5 mm diameter #1.5 thickness</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Eye drops Viscotears</td>
			<td style="width:209px;">Novartis</td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td>2mg/g</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Superglue Loctite 401</td>
			<td style="width:209px;">Henkel</td>
			<td>135429</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Ketaminol</td>
			<td style="width:209px;">Intervet</td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td>Ketamine 50 mg/ml, working solution 10 mg/ml (use it 80 &#181;g per gramm of animal weight)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Rompun</td>
			<td style="width:209px;">Bayer Healthcare</td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td>Xylazine 20 mg/ml, working solution 1.25 mg/ml (use it 10 &#181;g per gramm of animal weight)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;"></td>
			<td style="width:209px;"></td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td style="width:687px;">Working solution is a mixture of Ketamine 10 mg/ml and Xylazine 1.25 mg/ml in PBS</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Ethanol 70%</td>
			<td style="width:209px;"></td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Distilled water or Milli-Q water</td>
			<td style="width:209px;"></td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Syringes 1ml&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:209px;">BD</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">300013</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">30G 1/2&#34; needles</td>
			<td style="width:209px;">BD</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">304000</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Plastic packaging material</td>
			<td style="width:209px;"></td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td>Could be purchaized from general hardware store</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">FV-1000MPE microscope</td>
			<td style="width:209px;">Olympus</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">FV-1000MPE</td>
			<td>Microscope with motorized stage and rigid metal bar for fixation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">25X XLPlan objective</td>
			<td style="width:209px;">Olympus</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">XLPLN 25XWMP</td>
			<td>Water imersion objective optimized for multiphoton imaging</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Mai-Tai DeepSee laser (2W)</td>
			<td style="width:209px;">SpectraPhysics</td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Heating pad</td>
			<td style="width:209px;">Supertech</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">TMP-5b</td>
			<td>Heating pad with a temperature controller</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Metal ring fixator</td>
			<td style="width:209px;">Neurotar Ltd.</td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">ImageJ</td>
			<td style="width:209px;">NIH</td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td>Open source software for image processing and analysis, http://rsbweb.nih.gov/ij/&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Thy1-YFPH mice strain</td>
			<td style="width:209px;">JaxLab</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">003782</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

in vivo two-photon microscopy of single nerve endings in skin

Nerve endings in skin are involved in physiological processes such as sensing1 as well as in pathological processes such as neuropathic pain2. Their close-to-surface positioning facilitates microscopic imaging of skin nerve endings in living intact animal. Using multiphoton microscopy, it is possible to obtain fine images overcoming the problem of strong light scattering of the skin tissue. Reporter transgenic mice that express EYFP under the control of Thy-1 promoter in neurons (including periphery sensory neurons) are well suited for the longitudinal studies of individual nerve endings over extended periods of time up to several months or even life-long. Furthermore, using the same femtosecond laser as for the imaging, it is possible to produce highly selective lesions of nerve fibers for the studies of the nerve fiber restructuring. Here, we present a simple and reliable protocol for longitudinal multiphoton in vivo imaging and laser-based microsurgery on mouse skin nerve endings.

Using the described technique it is possible to track the same fiber after the lesion and to study the degradation of the damaged nerve endings (Figure&#160;1). Acquisition of the stack with the thickness of 120-150 &#181;m is usually proper for the repetitive imaging during several days in order to keep the whole fiber in the field of view.
The lesion typically can be produced concisely when the plastic packaging material is adjusted to flatten the skin, so the collagen layer...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about In Vivo Two-Photon Microscopy of Single Nerve Endings in Skin at JoVE.com

In Vivo Two-Photon Microscopy of Single Nerve Endings in Skin

The protocol for dynamic longitudinal imaging and selective laser lesion of nerve endings in reporter transgenic mice is presented.&#160;

In Vivo Two-Photon Microscopy of Single Nerve Endings in Skin

Nerve endings in skin are involved in physiological processes such as sensing1 as well as in pathological processes such as neuropathic pain2. Their ...

in-vivo-two-photon-microscopy-of-single-nerve-endings-in-skin

Research

JoVE Journal

Neuroscience

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