The authors thank Linda Turner for assistance with the microbiological preparation. RZ and LGW were funded by the Rowland Institute at Harvard and CGB was funded as a CAPES Foundation's scholar, Science Without Borders Program, Brazil (Process # 7340-11-7)

1. Setup and Data Acquisition
<ol>
	<li>Grow a culture of Streptococcus strain V4051-197 (smooth swimming) cells in KTY medium from frozen stock22. Incubate in a rotary shaker overnight at 35 &#176;C and 150 rpm, to saturation.</li>
	<li>Inoculate 10 ml of fresh KTY medium with 500 &#181;l of the saturated culture. Incubate for a further 3.5 hr at 35&#176;C and 150 rpm until the cells reach an optical density of approximately 1.0 at &#955;=600 nm (approximately 5 x 108 cells/ml).</li>
	<li>Dilute 1:400 in fresh media to obtain the final concentration of motile cells.</li>
	<li>On a microscope slide, make a ring of grease (e.g. from a syringe filled with petroleum jelly) around 1 mm in height and place a drop of the sample solution in the center. Place a cover glass on top and press lightly at the edges to seal, ensuring that liquid is in contact with both slide and cover glass. The resulting sample chamber should be around 100-200 &#181;m in depth.</li>
	<li>Place the sample chamber in the microscope with the cover glass facing down, and carefully, to prevent the formation of air bubbles in the oil between glass and lens.</li>
	<li>Focus the microscope on the bottom surface of the sample chamber, and bring the condenser to focus.</li>
	<li>Switch off the standard illumination and place the LED head behind the condenser aperture of the microscope. Set the LED power supply to maximum output.</li>
	<li>Close the condenser aperture to its fullest extent, and if necessary, nudge the LED in its mount until the illumination is centered on the objective lens aperture.</li>
	<li>Switch on the computer and camera, and redirect all light to the microscope's camera port. Adjust the frame rate and the image size in the image acquisition software.</li>
	<li>Make the frame exposure time as short as possible while still retaining good contrast. Check an image intensity histogram to ensure that the image is not saturated or under-exposed.</li>
	<li>If necessary, refocus the microscope so that object of interest is slightly defocused (typically by 10-30 &#181;m). The object and the focal plane should be in the same medium (i.e. the focal plane should lie inside the sample chamber).</li>
</ol>
2. Reconstruction
The first step of processing data is to numerically refocus a video frame at a series of different depths, producing a stack of images. User-friendly software for doing this may be found here: <a href="http://www.rowland.harvard.edu/rjf/wilson/Downloads.html">http://www.rowland.harvard.edu/rjf/wilson/Downloads.html</a> along with example images (acquired using an inverted microscope, and a 60X oil immersion objective lens) and a scene file for ray traced rendering.
<ol>
	<li>Input the frame of interest and its respective background as separate image files, in the relevant boxes on the interface. A background image is a frame that fairly represents the background of the video, in the absence of the hologram, and will be used to suppress any fixed-pattern noise that could interfere with the hologram localization and analysis.</li>
	<li>Enter values into the global settings boxes on the left hand side of the screen before running the program. The first three are output stack parameters: Axial position of the first frame ('Start focus'); number of slices in the reconstructed stack ('Number of steps'); axial distance between each slice in the stack ('Step size').</li>
	<li>In order to reconstruct objects with the correct proportions, the step size should be the same size as the lateral pixel spacing. Enter the camera's lateral sampling frequency (1/pixel spacing) in the 'Pixel/micron' box, the illumination wavelength and medium refractive index in the last two boxes. The program's default values are appropriate for reconstructing the example data.</li>
	<li>Press the 'Flip Z-gradient' button if the center of the object is dark in the hologram (see example frame 2005 and the discussion section for more details).</li>
	<li>Check the bandpass filter on/off state (default is on). This optional bandpass filter, located in a box below the gradient-flip switch, is responsible for suppressing the contribution from noisy pixels. The bandpass filter is applied to each image slice immediately after generation.</li>
	<li>Check the intermediate output switch on/off states (default is on). Intermediate analysis steps are written in two output videos, as uncompressed .avi files: the first is the refocused stack (file name ending in '_stack.avi'), the second is the stack after the axial gradient operation (file name ending in '_gradient.avi'). Ideally, this second stack will contain the object of interest highlighted as a bright object against a dark background.</li>
	<li>After setting all parameters, press 'Run' in the main window. The selected frame will appear in the main box of the software.</li>
	<li>Use the magnifying glass tool found on the toolbar to the left of the image to zoom in (left click) and zoom out (shift+left click). Use the rectangle tool on the toolbar to select a region of interest (ROI). Capture as many of the hologram's fringes as possible inside the rectangle, as this will optimize the reconstruction.</li>
	<li>Press the 'Process' button to generate the two image stacks. Inspect the resulting stacks using ImageJ (which can be obtained for free at <a href="http://rsb.info.nih.gov/ij/">http://rsb.info.nih.gov/ij/</a>). If the object of interest can be clearly seen in the gradient image stack, proceed to the next step to extract the object coordinates.</li>
</ol>
3. Rendering
<ol>
	<li>Besides frame refocusing, this program can locate the x, y, z coordinates for each voxel in the object of interest. Press the 'Feature Extraction' button to enable this function.</li>
	<li>Enter a path, including extension (for example: c:\home\output.inc), for the output coordinates file. Select 'POV-Ray style' in the 'output coordinate style' box. This causes the program to write an object file that can be visualized using the free POV-Ray raytracing software package (which can be obtained from <a href="http://www.povray.org/">http://www.povray.org/</a>).</li>
	<li>Reprocess the images as in section 2 above. The program will provide a series of (x, y ,z) coordinates in the selected ROI, written to the file name in the 'Output coordinate' box. Extraction of object coordinates takes significantly longer than stack generation.</li>
	<li>Make sure that the sample POV-Ray file (supplied with the reconstruction code) is in the same folder as the coordinates file just generated. Edit the sample .pov file and replace the file name in inverted commas on the line
	 #include "MYFILE.inc" 
	with the name of the data file generated by the reconstruction code.</li>
	<li>Click the 'Run' button in POV-Ray to render a bitmap image. The camera position, lighting and texture options are just a few of the customizations possible in POV-Ray; see the online documentation for details.</li>
</ol>

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The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests.

The most important step in this experimental protocol is the accurate capture of images from a stable experimental setup. With poor background data, high fidelity reconstruction is next to impossible. It is also important to avoid objective lenses with an internal phase contrast element (visible as a dark annulus when looking through the back of the objective), as this can degrade the reconstructed image. The object of interest should be far enough from the focal plane that a few pairs of diffraction fringes are visible ...

Digital inline holographic microscopy (DIHM) allows fast three-dimensional imaging of microscopic samples, such as swimming microorganisms1,2 and soft matter systems3,4, with minimal modification to a standard microscope setup. In this paper a pedagogical demonstration of DIHM is provided, centered around software developed in our lab. This paper includes a description of how to set up the microscope, optimize data acquisition, and process the recorded images to reconstruct three-dimensional data. The software (based in part on software developed by D.G. Grier and others5) and example images are freely available on our website. A description is provided of the steps necessary to configure the microscope, reconstruct three-dimensional volumes from holograms and render the resulting volumes of interest using a free ray tracing software package. The paper concludes with a discussion of factors affecting the quality of reconstruction, and a comparison of DIHM with competing methods.
Although DIHM was described some time ago (for a general review of its principles and development, see Kim6), the required computing power and image processing expertise has hitherto largely restricted its use to specialist research groups with a focus on instrument development. This situation is changing in the light of recent advances in computing and camera technology. Modern desktop computers can easily cope with the processing and data storage requirements; CCD or CMOS cameras are present in most microscopy labs; and the requisite software is being made freely available on the internet by groups who have invested time in developing the technique.
Various schemes have been proposed for imaging the configuration of microscopic objects in a three-dimensional sample volume. Many of these are scanning techniques7,8, in which a stack of images is recorded by mechanically translating the image plane through the sample. Scanning confocal fluorescence microscopy is perhaps the most familiar example. Typically, a fluorescent dye is added to a phase object in order to achieve an acceptable level of sample contrast, and the confocal arrangement used to spatially localize fluorescent emission. This method has led to significant advances, for example in colloid science where it has allowed access to the three-dimensional dynamics of crowded systems9-11. The use of labeling is an important difference between fluorescence confocal microscopy and DIHM, but other features of the two techniques are worth comparing. DIHM has a significant speed advantage in that the apparatus has no moving parts. The mechanical scanning mirrors in confocal systems place an upper limit on the data acquisition rate - typically around 30 frames/sec for a 512 x 512 pixel image. A stack of such images from different focal planes can be obtained by physically translating the sample stage or objective lens between frames, leading to a final capture rate of around one volume per second for a 30 frame stack. In comparison, a holographic system based on a modern CMOS camera can capture 2,000 frames/sec at the same image size and resolution; each frame is processed `offline' to give an independent snapshot of the sample volume. To reiterate: fluorescent samples are not required for DIHM, although a system has been developed that performs holographic reconstruction of a fluorescent subject12. As well as three-dimensional volume information, DIHM can also be used to provide quantitative phase contrast images13, but that is beyond the scope of the discussion here.
Raw DIHM data images are two-dimensional, and in some respects look like standard microscope images, albeit out of focus. The main difference between DIHM and standard bright field microscopy lies in the diffraction rings that surround objects in the field of view; these are due to the nature of the illumination. DIHM requires a more coherent source than bright field - typically an LED or laser. The diffraction rings in the hologram contain the information necessary to reconstruct a three-dimensional image. There are two main approaches to interpreting DIHM data; direct fitting and numerical refocusing. The first approach is applicable in cases where the mathematical form of the diffraction pattern is known in advance3,4; this condition is met by a small handful of simple objects like spheres, cylinders, and half-plane obstacles. Direct fitting is also applicable in cases where the object's axial position is known, and the image can be fitted using a look-up table of image templates14.
The second approach (numerical refocusing) is rather more general and relies on using the diffraction rings in the two-dimensional hologram image to numerically reconstruct the optical field at a number of (arbitrarily spaced) focal planes throughout the sample volume. Several related methods exist for doing this6; this work uses the Rayleigh-Sommerfeld back propagation technique as described by Lee and Grier5. The outcome of this procedure is a stack of images that replicate the effect of manually changing the microscope focal plane (hence the name `numerical refocusing'). Once a stack of images has been generated, the position of the subject in the focal volume must be obtained. A number of image analysis heuristics, such as local intensity variance or spatial frequency content, have been presented to quantify the sharpness of focus at different points in the sample15. In each case, when a particular image metric is maximized (or minimized), the object is considered to be in focus.
Unlike other schemes that seek to identify a particular focal plane where an object is 'in focus', the method in this work picks out points that lie inside the object of interest, which may extend across a wide range of focal planes. This approach is applicable to a broad range of subjects and is particularly suitable for extended, weakly-scattering samples (phase objects), such as rod-shaped colloids, chains of bacteria or eukaryotic flagella. In such samples the image contrast changes when the object passes through the focal plane; a defocused image has a light center if the object is on one side of the focal plane and a dark center if it is on the other. Pure phase objects have little to no contrast when they lie exactly in the focal plane. This phenomenon of contrast inversion has been discussed by other authors16,17 and is ultimately due to the Gouy phase anomaly18. This has been put on a more rigorous footing in the context of holography elsewhere, where the limits of the technique are evaluated; the typical uncertainty in position is of the order of 150 nm (approximately one pixel) in each direction19. The Gouy phase anomaly method is one of the few well-defined DIHM schemes for determining the structure of extended objects in three dimensions, but nevertheless some objects are problematic to reconstruct. Objects that lie directly along the optical axis (pointing at the camera) are difficult to reconstruct accurately; uncertainties in the length and position of the object become large. This limitation is in part due to the restricted bit depth of the pixels recording the hologram (the number of distinct gray levels that the camera can record). Another problematic configuration occurs when the object of interest is very close to the focal plane. In this case, the real and virtual images of the object are reconstructed in close proximity, giving rise to complicated optical fields that are difficult to interpret. A second, slightly less important concern here is that the resulting diffraction fringes occupy less of the image sensor, and this coarser-grained information leads to a poorer-quality reconstruction.
In practice, a simple gradient filter is applied to three-dimensional reconstructed volumes to detect strong intensity inversions along the illumination direction. Regions where intensity changes quickly from light to dark, or vice versa, are then associated with scattering regions. Weakly-scattering objects are well described as a noninteracting collection of such elements20; these individual contributions sum to give the total scattered field which is easily inverted using the Rayleigh-Sommerfeld back propagation method. In this paper, the axial intensity gradient technique is applied to a chain of Streptococcus cells. The cell bodies are phase objects (the species E. coli has a refractive index measured21 to be 1.384 at a wavelength &#955;=589 nm; the Streptococcus strain is likely to be similar) and appear as a high-intensity chain of connected blobs in the sample volume after the gradient filter has been applied. Standard threshold and feature extraction methods applied to this filtered volume allow the extraction of volumetric pixels (voxels) corresponding to the region inside the cells. A particular advantage of this method is that it allows unambiguous reconstruction of an object's position in the axial direction. Similar methods (at least, those that record holograms close to the object, imaged through a microscope objective) suffer from being unable to determine the sign of this displacement. Although the Rayleigh-Sommerfeld reconstruction method is also sign-independent in this sense, the gradient operation allows us to discriminate between weak phase objects above and below the focal plane.

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	<tbody>
		<tr height="53">
			<td height="53" style="height:53px;width:180px;">Nikon Eclipse Ti-E inverted microscope</td>
			<td style="width:187px;">Nikon Corp.</td>
			<td style="width:147px;"> </td>
			<td style="width:267px;"> </td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="46">
			<td height="46" style="height:46px;width:180px;">LED</td>
			<td style="width:187px;">Thorlabs</td>
			<td style="width:147px;">M660L3</td>
			<td style="width:267px;">emission wavelength &#955;=660 nm, linewidth approximately 20 nm </td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="24">
			<td height="24" style="height:24px;width:180px;">LED power supply</td>
			<td style="width:187px;">Thorlabs</td>
			<td style="width:147px;">LEDD1B</td>
			<td style="width:267px;"> </td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="27">
			<td height="27" style="height:27px;width:180px;">Thread Adapter</td>
			<td style="width:187px;">Thorlabs</td>
			<td style="width:147px;">SM2T2</td>
			<td style="width:267px;"> </td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="24">
			<td height="24" style="height:24px;width:180px;">Thread Adapter</td>
			<td style="width:187px;">Thorlabs</td>
			<td style="width:147px;">SM1A2</td>
			<td style="width:267px;"> </td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="24">
			<td height="24" style="height:24px;width:180px;">Frame Grabber board</td>
			<td style="width:187px;">EPIX </td>
			<td style="width:147px;">PIXCI E4 </td>
			<td style="width:267px;"> </td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="24">
			<td height="24" style="height:24px;width:180px;">High-Speed CMOS camera</td>
			<td style="width:187px;">Mikrotron</td>
			<td style="width:147px;">MC-1362</td>
			<td style="width:267px;"> </td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

digital inline holographic microscopy (dihm) of weakly-scattering subjects

Weakly-scattering objects, such as small colloidal particles and most biological cells, are frequently encountered in microscopy. Indeed, a range of techniques have been developed to better visualize these phase objects; phase contrast and DIC are among the most popular methods for enhancing contrast. However, recording position and shape in the out-of-imaging-plane direction remains challenging. This report introduces a simple experimental method to accurately determine the location and geometry of objects in three dimensions, using digital inline holographic microscopy (DIHM). Broadly speaking, the accessible sample volume is defined by the camera sensor size in the lateral direction, and the illumination coherence in the axial direction. Typical sample volumes range from 200 &#181;m&#160;x 200 &#181;m&#160;x 200 &#181;m using LED illumination, to 5 mm&#160;x 5 mm&#160;x 5 mm or larger using laser illumination. This illumination light is configured so that plane waves are incident on the sample. Objects in the sample volume then scatter light, which interferes with the unscattered light to form interference patterns perpendicular to the illumination direction. This image (the hologram) contains the depth information required for three-dimensional reconstruction, and can be captured on a standard imaging device such as a CMOS or CCD camera. The Rayleigh-Sommerfeld back propagation method is employed to numerically refocus microscope images, and a simple imaging heuristic based on the Gouy phase anomaly is used to identify scattering objects within the reconstructed volume. This simple but robust method results in an unambiguous, model-free measurement of the location and shape of objects in microscopic samples.

To demonstrate the capabilities of DIHM, experiments were performed on a chain of Streptococcus bacteria. The chain itself measured 10.5 mm long, and was composed of 6-7 sphero-cylindrical cells (two of the cells in the chain are close to dividing) with diameters in the range 0.6-1 &#956;m.&#160;Figures 1a and 1b show the main interface of the reconstruction and rendering software. Examples of the numerical refocusing procedure are seen in Figure&#160;2, where a...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Digital Inline Holographic Microscopy DIHM of Weakly-scattering Subjects at JoVE.com

Digital Inline Holographic Microscopy DIHM of Weakly-scattering Subjects

The three-dimensional locations of weakly-scattering objects can be uniquely identified using digital inline holographic microscopy (DIHM), which involves a minor modification to a standard microscope. Our software uses a simple imaging heuristic coupled with Rayleigh-Sommerfeld back-propagation to yield the three-dimensional position and geometry of a microscopic phase object.

Digital Inline Holographic Microscopy (DIHM) of Weakly-scattering Subjects

Weakly-scattering objects, such as small colloidal particles and most biological cells, are frequently encountered in microscopy. Indeed, a range of ...

digital-inline-holographic-microscopy-dihm-weakly-scattering

Research

JoVE Journal

Biology

12.1K Views.  Harvard University. The three-dimensional locations of weakly-scattering objects can be uniquely identified using digital inline holographic microscopy (DIHM), which involves a minor modification to a standard microscope. Our software uses a simple imaging heuristic coupled with Rayleigh-Sommerfeld back-propagation to yield the three-dimensional position and geometry of a microscopic phase object.

Video: Digital Inline Holographic Microscopy DIHM of Weakly-scattering Subjects

Determining heat and mechanical pain threshold in inflamed skin of human subjects

In a previous article in the Journal of Visualized Experiments we have demonstrated skin microdialysis techniques for the collection of tissue-specific nociceptive and inflammatory biochemicals in humans. In this article we will show pain-testing paradigms that are often used in tandem with microdialysis procedures. Combining pain tests with microdialysis provides the critical link between behavioral and biochemical data that allows identifying key biochemicals responsible for generating and propagating pain.
Two models of evoking pain in inflamed skin of human study participants are shown. The first model evokes pain with aid of heat stimuli. Heat evoked pain as described here is predominantly mediated by small, non-myelinated peripheral nociceptive nerve fibers (C-fibers). The second model evokes pain via punctuated pressure stimuli. Punctuated pressure evoked pain is predominantly mediated by small, myelinated peripheral nociceptive nerve fibers (A-delta fibers). The two models are mechanistically distinct and independently examine nociceptive processing by the two major peripheral nerve fiber populations involved in pain signaling.
Heat pain is evoked with aid of the TSA II, a commercially available thermo-sensory analyzer (Medoc Advanced Medical Systems, Durham, NC). Stimulus configuration and delivery is handled with aid of specific software. Thermodes vary in size and shape but in principle consist of a metal plate that can be heated or cooled at various rates and for different periods of time. Algorithms assessing heat-evoked pain are manifold. In the experiments shown here, study participants are asked to indicate at what point they start experiencing pain while the thermode in contact with skin is heated at a predetermined rate starting at a temperature that does not evoke pain. The thermode temperature at which a subject starts experiencing pain constitutes the heat pain threshold.
Mechanical pain is evoked with punctuated probes. Such probes are commercially available from several manufacturers (von Frey hairs). However, the accuracy of von Frey hairs has been criticized and many investigators use custom made punctuated pressure probes. In the experiments shown here eight custom-made punctuated probes of different weights are applied in consecutive order, a procedure called up-down algorithm, to identify perceptional deflection points, i.e., a change from feeling no pain to feeling pain or vice versa. The average weight causing a perceptional deflection constitutes the mechanical pain threshold.

Algorithms assessing heat and mechanical pain thresholds in experimentally inflamed skin of human study subjects are shown. The two pain testing paradigms independently examine nociceptive processing by the two major peripheral nerve fiber populations transmitting pain, i.e., non-myelinated C fibers and small myelinated A-delta fibers.

In a previous article in the Journal of Visualized Experiments we have demonstrated skin microdialysis techniques for the collection of tissue-specific ...

Digital Microfluidics for Automated Proteomic Processing

Clinical proteomics has emerged as an important new discipline, promising the discovery of biomarkers that will be useful for early diagnosis and prognosis of disease. While clinical proteomic methods vary widely, a common characteristic is the need for (i) extraction of proteins from extremely heterogeneous fluids (i.e. serum, whole blood, etc.) and (ii) extensive biochemical processing prior to analysis. Here, we report a new digital microfluidics (DMF) based method integrating several processing steps used in clinical proteomics. This includes protein extraction, resolubilization, reduction, alkylation and enzymatic digestion. Digital microfluidics is a microscale fluid-handling technique in which nanoliter-microliter sized droplets are manipulated on an open surface. Droplets are positioned on top of an array of electrodes that are coated by a dielectric layer - when an electrical potential is applied to the droplet, charges accumulate on either side of the dielectric. The charges serve as electrostatic handles that can be used to control droplet position, and by biasing a sequence of electrodes in series, droplets can be made to dispense, move, merge, mix, and split on the surface. Therefore, DMF is a natural fit for carrying rapid, sequential, multistep, miniaturized automated biochemical assays. This represents a significant advance over conventional methods (relying on manual pipetting or robots), and has the potential to be a useful new tool in clinical proteomics.
Mais J. Jebrail, Vivienne N. Luk, and Steve C. C. Shih contributed equally to this work.
Sergio L. S. Freire's current address is at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia located at 600 South 43rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104.

Digital Microfluidics is a technique characterized by the manipulation of discrete droplets (~nL - mL) on an array of electrodes by the application of electrical fields. It is well-suited for carrying out rapid, sequential, miniaturized automated biochemical assays. Here, we report a platform capable of automating several proteomic processing steps.

Clinical proteomics has emerged as an important new discipline, promising the discovery of biomarkers that will be useful for early diagnosis and ...

Time-lapse Imaging of Mitosis After siRNA Transfection

Changes in cellular organization and chromosome dynamics that occur during mitosis are tightly coordinated to ensure accurate inheritance of genomic and cellular content. Hallmark events of mitosis, such as chromosome movement, can be readily tracked on an individual cell basis using time-lapse fluorescence microscopy of mammalian cell lines expressing specific GFP-tagged proteins. In combination with RNAi-based depletion, this can be a powerful method for pinpointing the stage(s) of mitosis where defects occur after levels of a particular protein have been lowered. In this protocol, we present a basic method for assessing the effect of depleting a potential mitotic regulatory protein on the timing of mitosis. Cells are transfected with siRNA, placed in a stage-top incubation chamber, and imaged using an automated fluorescence microscope. We describe how to use software to set up a time-lapse experiment, how to process the image sequences to make either still-image montages or movies, and how to quantify and analyze the timing of mitotic stages using a cell-line expressing mCherry-tagged histone H2B. Finally, we discuss important considerations for designing a time-lapse experiment. This strategy is complementary to other approaches and offers the advantages of 1) sensitivity to changes in kinetics that might not be observed when looking at cells as a population and 2) analysis of mitosis without the need to synchronize the cell cycle using drug treatments. The visual information from such imaging experiments not only allows the sub-stages of mitosis to be assessed, but can also provide unexpected insight that would not be apparent from cell cycle analysis by FACS.

Here we describe a basic protocol to image and quantify the mitotic timing of live mammalian tissue culture cells after siRNA transfection.

Changes in cellular organization and chromosome dynamics that occur during mitosis are tightly coordinated to ensure accurate inheritance of genomic and ...

In vivo Clonal Tracking of Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells Marked by Five Fluorescent Proteins using Confocal and Multiphoton Microscopy

We developed and validated a fluorescent marking methodology for clonal tracking of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) with high spatial and temporal resolution to study in vivo hematopoiesis using the murine bone marrow transplant experimental model. Genetic combinatorial marking using lentiviral vectors encoding fluorescent proteins (FPs) enabled cell fate mapping through advanced microscopy imaging. Vectors encoding five different FPs: Cerulean, EGFP, Venus, tdTomato, and mCherry were used to concurrently transduce HSPCs, creating a diverse palette of color marked cells. Imaging using confocal/two-photon hybrid microscopy enables simultaneous high resolution assessment of uniquely marked cells and their progeny in conjunction with structural components of the tissues. Volumetric analyses over large areas reveal that spectrally coded HSPC-derived cells can be detected non-invasively in various intact tissues, including the bone marrow (BM), for extensive periods of time following transplantation. Live studies combining video-rate multiphoton and confocal time-lapse imaging in 4D demonstrate the possibility of dynamic cellular and clonal tracking in a quantitative manner.

In vivo Clonal Tracking of Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells Marked by Five Fluorescent Proteins using Confocal and Multiphoton Microscopy

Combinatorial 5 fluorescent proteins marking of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells allows in vivo clonal tracking via confocal and two-photon microscopy, providing insights into bone marrow hematopoietic architecture during regeneration. This method allows non-invasive fate mapping of spectrally-coded HSPCs-derived cells in intact tissues for extensive periods of time following transplantation.

We developed and validated a fluorescent marking methodology for clonal tracking of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) with high spatial and ...

In Vivo 4-Dimensional Tracking of Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells in Adult Mouse Calvarial Bone Marrow

Through a delicate balance between quiescence and proliferation, self renewal and production of differentiated progeny, hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) maintain the turnover of all mature blood cell lineages. The coordination of the complex signals leading to specific HSC fates relies upon the interaction between HSCs and the intricate bone marrow microenvironment, which is still poorly understood[1-2].
We describe how by combining a newly developed specimen holder for stable animal positioning with multi-step confocal and two-photon in vivo imaging techniques, it is possible to obtain high-resolution 3D stacks containing HSPCs and their surrounding niches and to monitor them over time through multi-point time-lapse imaging. High definition imaging allows detecting ex vivo labeled hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) residing within the bone marrow. Moreover, multi-point time-lapse 3D imaging, obtained with faster acquisition settings, provides accurate information about HSPC movement and the reciprocal interactions between HSPCs and stroma cells.
Tracking of HSPCs in relation to GFP positive osteoblastic cells is shown as an exemplary application of this method. This technique can be utilized to track any appropriately labeled hematopoietic or stromal cell of interest within the mouse calvarium bone marrow space.

In Vivo 4-Dimensional Tracking of Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells in Adult Mouse Calvarial Bone Marrow

The nature of the interactions between hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) and bone marrow niches is poorly understood. Custom hardware modifications and a multi-step acquisition protocol allow the use of two-photon and confocal microscopy to image ex vivo labeled HSPCs homed within bone marrow areas, tracking interactions and movement.

Through a delicate balance between quiescence and proliferation, self renewal and production of differentiated progeny, hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) ...

Simple Bulk Readout of Digital Nucleic Acid Quantification Assays

Digital assays are powerful methods that enable detection of rare cells and counting of individual nucleic acid molecules. However, digital assays are still not routinely applied, due to the cost and specific equipment associated with commercially available methods. Here we present a simplified method for readout of digital droplet assays using a conventional real-time PCR instrument to measure bulk fluorescence of droplet-based digital assays.
We characterize the performance of the bulk readout assay using synthetic droplet mixtures and a droplet digital multiple displacement amplification (MDA) assay. Quantitative MDA particularly benefits from a digital reaction format, but our new method&#160;applies to any digital assay. For established digital assay protocols such as digital PCR, this method serves to speed up and simplify assay readout.
Our bulk readout methodology brings the advantages of partitioned assays without the need for specialized readout instrumentation. The principal limitations of the bulk readout methodology are reduced dynamic range compared with droplet-counting platforms and the need for a standard sample, although the requirements for this standard are less demanding than for a conventional real-time experiment. Quantitative whole genome amplification (WGA) is used to test for contaminants in WGA reactions and is the most sensitive way to detect the presence of DNA fragments with unknown sequences, giving the method great promise in diverse application areas including pharmaceutical quality control and astrobiology.

We describe an endpoint digital assay for quantifying nucleic acids with a simplified (analog) readout. We measure bulk fluorescence of droplet-based digital assays using a standard qPCR machine rather than specialized instrumentation and confirm our results by microscopy.

Digital assays are powerful methods that enable detection of rare cells and counting of individual nucleic acid molecules. However, digital assays are ...

Magnetic-Activated Cell Sorting Strategies to Isolate and Purify Synovial Fluid-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells from a Rabbit Model

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are the main cell source for cell-based therapy. MSCs from articular cavity synovial fluid could potentially be used for cartilage tissue engineering. MSCs from synovial fluid (SF-MSCs) have been considered promising candidates for articular regeneration, and their potential therapeutic benefit has made them an important research topic of late. SF-MSCs from the knee cavity of the New Zealand white rabbit can be employed as an optimized translational model to assess human regenerative medicine. By means of CD90-based magnetic activated cell sorting (MACS) technologies, this protocol successfully obtains rabbit SF-MSCs (rbSF-MSCs) from this rabbit model and further fully demonstrates the MSC phenotype of these cells by inducing them to differentiate to osteoblasts, adipocytes, and chondrocytes. Therefore, this approach can be applied in cell biology research and tissue engineering using simple equipment and procedures.

This article presents a simple and economic protocol for the straightforward isolation and purification of mesenchymal stem cells from New Zealand white rabbit synovial fluid.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are the main cell source for cell-based therapy. MSCs from articular cavity synovial fluid could potentially be used for ...

Micron-scale Phenotyping Techniques of Maize Vascular Bundles Based on X-ray Microcomputed Tomography

It is necessary to accurately quantify the anatomical structures of maize materials based on high-throughput image analysis techniques. Here, we provide a 'sample preparation protocol' for maize materials (i.e., stem, leaf, and root) suitable for ordinary microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) scanning. Based on high-resolution CT images of maize stem, leaf, and root, we describe two protocols for the phenotypic analysis of vascular bundles: (1) based on the CT image of maize stem and leaf, we developed a specific image analysis pipeline to automatically extract 31 and 33 phenotypic traits of vascular bundles; (2) based on the CT image series of maize root, we set up an image processing scheme for the three-dimensional (3-D) segmentation of metaxylem vessels, and extracted two-dimensional (2-D) and 3-D phenotypic traits, such as volume, surface area of metaxylem vessels, etc. Compared with traditional manual measurement of vascular bundles of maize materials, the proposed protocols significantly improve the efficiency and accuracy of micron-scale phenotypic quantification.

We provide a novel method to improve the X-ray absorption contrast of maize tissue suitable for ordinary microcomputed tomography scanning. Based on CT images, we introduce a set of image-processing workflows for different maize materials to effectively extract microscopic phenotypes of vascular bundles of maize.

It is necessary to accurately quantify the anatomical structures of maize materials based on high-throughput image analysis techniques. Here, we provide a ...

Biological Sample Preparation by High-pressure Freezing, Microwave-assisted Contrast Enhancement, and Minimal Resin Embedding for Volume Imaging

The described sample preparation technique is designed to combine the best quality of ultrastructural preservation with the most suitable contrast for the imaging modality in a focused ion beam scanning electron microscope (FIB-SEM), which is used to obtain stacks of sequential images for 3D reconstruction and modelling. High-pressure freezing (HPF) allows close to native structural preservation, but the subsequent freeze substitution often does not provide sufficient contrast, especially for a bigger specimen, which is needed for high-quality imaging in the SEM required for 3D reconstruction. Therefore, in this protocol, after the freeze substitution, additional contrasting steps are carried out at room temperature. Although these steps are performed in a microwave, it is also possible to follow traditional bench processing, which requires longer incubation times.The subsequent embedding in minimal amounts of resin allows for faster and more precise targeting and preparation inside the FIB-SEM. This protocol is especially useful for samples that require preparation by high-pressure freezing for a reliable ultrastructural preservation but do not gain enough contrast during the freeze substitution for volume imaging using FIB-SEM. In combination with the minimal resin embedding, this protocol provides an efficient workflow for the acquisition of high-quality volume data.

Here we present a protocol for combining two sample processing techniques, high-pressure freezing and microwave-assisted sample processing, followed by minimal resin embedding for acquiring data with a focused ion beam scanning electron microscope (FIB-SEM). This is demonstrated using a mouse tibial nerve sample and Caenorhabditis elegans.

The described sample preparation technique is designed to combine the best quality of ultrastructural preservation with the most suitable contrast for the ...

Cryo-Electron Microscopic Grid Preparation for Time-Resolved Studies using a Novel Robotic System, Spotiton

The capture of short-lived molecular states triggered by the early encounter of two or more interacting particles continues to be an experimental challenge of great interest to the field of cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). A few methodological strategies have been developed that support these &#34;time-resolved&#34; studies, one of which, Spotiton-a novel robotic system-combines the dispensing of picoliter-sized sample droplets with precise temporal and spatial control. The time-resolved Spotiton workflow offers a uniquely efficient approach to interrogate early structural rearrangements from minimal sample volume. Fired from independently controlled piezoelectric dispensers, two samples land and rapidly mix on a nanowire EM grid as it plunges toward the cryogen. Potentially hundreds of grids can be prepared in rapid succession from only a few microliters of a sample. Here, a detailed step-by-step protocol of the operation of the Spotiton system is presented with a focus on troubleshooting specific problems that arise during grid preparation.

The protocol presented here describes the use of Spotiton, a novel robotic system, to deliver two samples of interest onto a self-wicking, nanowire grid that mix for a minimum of 90 ms prior to vitrification in liquid cryogen.