title: Intravital imaging in the kidney.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The review aims to provide a brief summary and evaluation of the current state of research that uses multiphoton fluorescence microscopy for intravital kidney imaging.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Direct visualization of the glomerular filter, proximal and distal tubule segments, and the renal vasculature in the living, intact kidney in zebrafish, mouse, and rat models with high temporal and spatial resolution provided new insights into the function of the normal and diseased kidney. New technical developments in fluorescence excitation and detection, in combination with transgenic animal models for cell function and fate mapping, and serial imaging of the same glomerulus in the same animal over several days further advanced the field of nephrology research, and the understanding of disease mechanisms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Intravital multiphoton imaging has solved many critical technical barriers in kidney research and allowed the dynamic portrayal of the structure and function of various renal cell types in vivo. It has become a widely used research technique, with significant past achievements, and tremendous potential for future development and applications for the study and better understanding of kidney diseases.
authors.affiliation: aDepartments of Physiology and Biophysics, and Medicine, Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA bDepartment of Nephrology and Hypertension, Kawasaki Medical School, Kurashiki, Japan.
authors.forename: János
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Peti-Peterdi
authors.forename: Kengo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kidokoro
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Riquier-Brison
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D000069416:Intravital Microscopy; D007668:Kidney / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology*; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D036641:Microscopy, Fluorescence, Multiphoton / Q000379:methods; D023421:Models, Animal