Long-term, long-distance recording of a living migrating neuron by scanning ion conductance microscopy

Bias-free, three-dimensional imaging of entire living cellular specimen is required for investigating shape and volume changes that occur during cellular growth or migration. Here we present fifty consecutive recordings of a living cultured neuron from a mouse dorsal root ganglion obtained by Scanning ion conductance microscopy (SICM). We observed a saltatory migration of the neuron with a mean velocity of approximately 20 μm/h. These results demonstrate the non-invasiveness of SICM, which makes it unique among the scanning probe microscopes. In contrast to SICM, most scanning probe techniques require a usually denaturating preparation of the cells, or they exert a non-negligible force on the cellular membrane, impeding passive observation. Moreover, the present series of recordings demonstrates the potential use of SICM for the detailed investigation of cellular migration and membrane surface dynamics even of such delicate samples as living neurons.