title: Imaging the bipolarity of myosin filaments with Interferometric Second Harmonic Generation microscopy.
abstract: We report that combining interferometry with Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) microscopy provides valuable information about the relative orientation of noncentrosymmetric structures composing tissues. This is confirmed through the imaging of rat medial gastrocnemius muscle. The inteferometric Second Harmonic Generation (ISHG) images reveal that each side of the myosin filaments composing the A band of the sarcomere generates π phase shifted SHG signal which implies that the myosin proteins at each end of the filaments are oriented in opposite directions. This highlights the bipolar structural organization of the myosin filaments and shows that muscles can be considered as a periodically poled biological structure.
authors.affiliation: Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications, 1650 Boulevard Lionel-Boulet, Varennes, Quebec, J3X 1S2, Canada.
authors.forename: Maxime
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rivard
authors.forename: Charles-André
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Couture
authors.forename: Amir K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Miri
authors.forename: Mathieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Laliberté
authors.forename: Antony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bertrand-Grenier
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mongeau
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Légaré
keywords: (180.4315) Nonlinear microscopy; (190.4160) Multiharmonic generation