title: Three- and four-dimensional visualization of cell migration using optical coherence tomography.
abstract: Conventionally, cell chemotaxis is studied on two-dimensional (2D) transparent surfaces, due to limitations in optical and image data-collection techniques. However, surfaces that more closely mimic the natural environment of cells are often opaque. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a noninvasive label-free imaging technique, which offers the potential to visualize moving cells on opaque surfaces and in three dimensions (3D). Here, we demonstrate that OCT is an effective means of time-lapse videomicroscopy of Dictyostelium cells undergoing 3D (2D+time) cell migration on nitrocellulose substrates and 4D (3D+time) chemotaxis within low-density agarose gels. The generated image sequences are compatible with current computer-based image-analysis software for quantification of cell motility. This demonstrates the utility of OCT for cell tracking and analysis of cell chemotaxis in complex environments.
authors.affiliation: School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK.
authors.forename: Sara M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Rey
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Povazay
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hofer
authors.forename: Angelika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Unterhuber
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hermann
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Harwood
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Drexler
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002633:Chemotaxis; D003101:Collodion; D004023:Dictyostelium / Q000166:cytology*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D012685:Sepharose; D013499:Surface Properties; D013997:Time Factors; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D003101:Collodion; D012685:Sepharose