Label-free multimodal nonlinear optical microscopy reveals fundamental insights of skeletal muscle development.
We developed a label-free nonlinear optical (NLO) microscope integrating the stimulated Raman scattering, multi-color two-photon excited fluorescence and second harmonic generation. The system produces multimodal images of protein content, mitochondria distribution and sarcomere structure of fresh muscle samples. With the advanced imaging technique, we studied the mal-development of skeletal muscle caused by sarcomeric gene deficiency. In addition, important development processes of normal muscle from neonatal to adult stage were also clearly revealed based on the changing sarcomere structure, mitochondria distribution and muscle fiber size. The results demonstrate that the newly developed multimodal NLO microscope is a powerful tool to assess the muscle integrity and function.
Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China ; These authors contributed equally to this work.
Qiqi
Q
Sun
Division of Life Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China ; These authors contributed equally to this work.
Yanfeng
Y
Li
Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Sicong
S
He
Division of Life Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Chenghao
C
Situ
Division of Life Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China ; Center of Systems Biology and Human Health, School of Science and Institute for Advanced Study, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Zhenguo
Z
Wu
Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China ; Center of Systems Biology and Human Health, School of Science and Institute for Advanced Study, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Jianan Y
JY
Qu
(170.3880) Medical and biological imaging; (170.6930) Tissue; (180.4315) Nonlinear microscopy; (290.5910) Scattering, stimulated Raman