title: Multi-photon excitation imaging of dynamic processes in living cells and tissues.
abstract: Over the past decade, two-photon microscopy has successfully made the transition from the laser laboratory into a true biological research setting. This has been due in part to the recent development of turnkey ultrafast laser systems required for two-photon microscopy, allowing ease of use in nonspecialist laboratories. The advantages of two-photon microscopy over conventional optical sectioning techniques are for greater imaging depths and reduced overall phototoxicity, as such enabling noninvasive intra-vital imaging of cellular and subcellular processes. Greater understanding of these advantages has allowed this technique to be more effectively utilized in a biological research setting. This review will cover the recent widespread uses of two-photon microscopy and highlight the wide range of physiological studies enabled in fields such as neurosciences, developmental biology, immunology, cancer biology, and endocrinology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA. richard.benninger@vanderbilt.edu
authors.forename: R K P
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Benninger
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Piston
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002468:Cell Physiological Phenomena; D002477:Cells / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D006801:Humans; D036641:Microscopy, Fluorescence, Multiphoton; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology