title: Intravital fluorescence microscopy in pulmonary research.
abstract: Over the last several years, microscopy as a scientific tool has reinvented itself evolving from a group of principally descriptive methodologies to encompass a wide range of primary tools and techniques to investigate the molecular organization of organs, tissues and cells. Advances in microscope and camera design, fluorescent dye technology, the development of fluorescent proteins as well as the advent of inexpensive powerful computers, has led to the feasibility of simultaneous sub micron resolution and quantitation of multiple concurrent molecular markers for both protein and DNA. Confocal microscopy has allowed optical sectioning and reconstruction of tissues in three dimensions. Finally, the development of multiphoton methodologies as an extension of optical sectioning microscopy has further improved the potential utility of this technology when examining living or light scattering tissues such as the lung. In order to illustrate the utility of two-photon methods in pulmonary biology, we present the application of this approach to the study of cellular trafficking in situ and to the study of pulmonary vasoregulation in an ex vivo rodent model.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, USA. cls13@pitt.edu
authors.forename: Claudette M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: St Croix
authors.forename: Karanee
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Leelavanichkul
authors.forename: Simon C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Watkins
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018827:Carcinoma, Lewis Lung / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000503:physiopathology; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D008168:Lung / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D036641:Microscopy, Fluorescence, Multiphoton; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000503:physiopathology; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D014661:Vasoconstriction
chemical_list: D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins