Fluorescence lifetime imaging microscope consisting of a compact picosecond dye laser and a gated charge-coupled device camera for applications to living cells

Highly efficient solid-state distributed feedback dye laser based on polymer-filled nanoporous glass composite excited by a diode-pumped solid-state Nd:LSB microlaser

Realization of a compact, robust, highly stable, and efficient solid-state distributed feedback (DFB) dye laser based on pyrromethene 580-doped modified poly-(methyl methacrylate) embedded into nanoporous glass host is reported. A diode-pumped solid-state STA01SH-500 Nd:LSB microlaser (λ=532  nm; τ_0.5∼0.5  ns; E_P≤80  μJ; f≤500  Hz) is used as a pump source. When pumped well above threshold, a DFB laser emits a train of ultrashort pulses (τ≤1  ns; τ_0.5<0.5  ns; Δλ_0.5≤0.01  nm), while at excitation intensities not far from threshold, single transform-limited picosecond pulses (τ_0.5≤40  ps; τ_0.5Δν_0.5∼0.3), tunable from 541 to 598 nm, are generated. The DFB lasing efficiency reaches ∼60% upon an energy stability of ∼1.4% and an overall service life of the active element of ∼9×10⁷ laser shots. More than an order of magnitude increase in the temperature stability of a lasing wavelength as compared with ethanol solutions of laser dyes is practically demonstrated.

Applying fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy to evaluate the efficacy of anticancer drugs

Fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy was applied to evaluate the efficacy of anticancer drugs. A decrease in the fluorescence lifetime of the nucleus in apoptotic cancer cells stained by SYTO 13 dye was detected after treatment with antitumor antibiotics such as doxorubicin or epirubicin. It was confirmed that the change in fluorescence lifetime occurred earlier than morphological changes in the cells. We found that the fluorescence lifetime of the nucleus in the cells treated with epirubicin decreased more rapidly than that of the cells treated with doxorubicin. This implies that epirubicin was more efficacious than doxorubicin in the treatment of cancer cells. The change in fluorescence lifetime was, however, not indicated when the cells were treated with cyclophosphamide. The decrease in fluorescence lifetime was associated with the processes involving caspase activation and chromatin condensation. Therefore, this technique would provide useful information about apoptotic cells, particularly in the early stages.

Image restoration for fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM)

Computational image restoration finds wide applicability for fluorescence intensity imaging. Relatively little work in this regard has been performed on FLIM images, which also suffer from diminished spatial resolution. In this work, we report two separate approaches to enhance FLIM image quality while maintaining lifetime accuracy. A 2D-image restoration algorithm was employed to improve resolution in gated intensity images of various samples including fluorescent beads, living cells and fixed tissue samples. The restoration approach improved lifetime image quality without significant variation in lifetime. Further, overlaying a restored-intensity image over the native lifetime image provided even better results, where the resulting lifetime map had spatial features similar to the intensity map. 2D and 3D image restoration also benefit from advances in computational power and hence holds potential for enhancing FLIM resolution, particularly in ICCD-based wide-field FLIM systems, without sacrificing vital quantitative information.

Profiling distinct mechanisms of tumour invasion for drug discovery: imaging adhesion, signalling and matrix turnover

Recent advances in microscopic imaging technology, fluorescent reporter reagents, 3-dimensional (3D) cell models and multiparametric image analysis have enhanced our ability to model and understand complex cell physiology. Extension of these approaches to live cell, kinetic studies allows further spatial and temporal understanding of a multitude of dynamic functional events, including tumour cell invasion. Recent in vivo and 3D in vitro studies reveal how tumour cells utilize a diverse variety of mechanisms to permit invasion through 3D tissue environments. Such high degrees of diversity and plasticity between invasion mechanisms present a significant challenge to the successful treatment of malignant cancer. This review examines how advances in time-resolved imaging has contributed to the characterization of distinct modes of invasion and their associated molecular mechanisms. Specifically, we highlight the development of fluorescent reporter molecules and their incorporation into more predictive 3D in vitro and in vivo models, to enhance mechanistic analysis of tumour invasion. We also highlight the latest advances in kinetic imaging instrumentation applicable to in vitro and in vivo models of tumour invasion. We discuss how multiparametric image analysis can be used to interpret image data generated by these approaches. We further discuss how these approaches can be integrated into drug discovery pipelines to facilitate evaluation and selection of candidate drugs and novel pharmaceutical compositions, targeting multiple invasive mechanisms.

Use of a fluorescence lifetime imaging microscope in an apoptosis assay of Ewing’s sarcoma cells with a vital fluorescent probe

A fluorescence lifetime imaging microscope (FLIM) was applied to study early-stage apoptotic cells stained with a SYTO13 dye. The fluorescence lifetime of SYTO13 in healthy cells was 3.8+/-0.3ns but was reduced to 2.4+/-0.4 and 1.9+/-0.2ns after a 3-h period of incubation with SYTO13 when doxorubicin, a known inducer of apoptosis, was added to human Ewing's family tumor cells at final concentrations of 250 and 500nM, respectively, in a dose-dependent experiment. On the other hand, in a time-dependent experiment, the fluorescence lifetime decreased to 2.5+/-0.5 and 1.7+/-0.4ns at a doxorubicin concentration of 750nM after 2 and 4h, respectively. A possible explanation for these results is self-quenching induced by a change in interprobe distance that arises from the condensation of DNA during apoptosis. In this study, the FLIM system was employed to investigate early-stage apoptosis that involves only small morphological changes, suggesting the potential advantage of this method for evaluating small biological effects in living cells.