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Live Intravital Imaging of Cellular Trafficking in the Cardiac Microvasculature-Beating the Odds
Dean Philip John Kavanagh1, Neena Kalia1
1Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Insights
Advancements in cardiac intravital microscopy now allow imaging of the heart's microcirculation. This breakthrough aids understanding of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and inflammatory cell recruitment in cardiac disorders.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Physiology
- Microcirculation Imaging
- Inflammatory Response
Background:
- Cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevalence is rising despite falling mortality rates.
- Understanding cardiac microcirculation is crucial for managing CVD.
- Historic limitations in imaging the beating heart's microvasculature hindered research.
Observation:
- Inflammatory cell recruitment in cardiac microcirculation contributes to tissue damage and poor outcomes.
- Technological advancements have overcome challenges in imaging the beating heart.
- New techniques enable visualization of the cardiac vascular tree's microvessels.
Findings:
- Spinning-disk confocal and multiphoton microscopy have revolutionized cardiac microcirculation research.
- Advanced algorithms and software have unlocked the ability to image cardiac microvessels.
- This enables detailed study of inflammatory cell dynamics within the heart.
Implications:
- Improved understanding of cardiac microvascular physiology and disease mechanisms.
- Potential for developing novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for CVD.
- Facilitates further research into the role of inflammation in heart disease.
Abstract:
Although mortality rates from cardiovascular disease in the developed world are falling, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is not. Each year, the number of people either being diagnosed as suffering with CVD or undergoing a surgical procedure related to it, such as percutaneous coronary intervention, continues to increase. In order to ensure that we can effectively manage these diseases in the future, it is critical that we fully understand their basic physiology and their underlying causative factors. Over recent years, the important role of the cardiac microcirculation in both acute and chronic disorders of the heart has become clear. The recruitment of inflammatory cells into the cardiac microcirculation and their subsequent activation may contribute significantly to tissue damage, adverse remodeling, and poor outcomes during recovery. However, our basic understanding of the cardiac microcirculation is hampered by an historic inability to image the microvessels of the beating heart-something we have been able to achieve in other organs for over 100 years. This stems from a couple of clear and obvious difficulties related to imaging the heart-firstly, it has significant inherent contractile motion and is affected considerably by the movement of lungs. Secondly, it is located in an anatomically challenging position for microscopy. However, recent microscopic and technological developments have allowed us to overcome some of these challenges and to begin to answer some of the basic outstanding questions in cardiac microvascular physiology, particularly in relation to inflammatory cell recruitment. In this review, we will discuss some of the historic work that took place in the latter part of last century toward cardiac intravital, before moving onto the advanced work that has been performed since. This work, which has utilized technology such as spinning-disk confocal and multiphoton microscopy, has-along with some significant advancements in algorithms and software-unlocked our ability to image the "business end" of the cardiac vascular tree. This review will provide an overview of these techniques, as well as some practical pointers toward software and other tools that may be useful for other researchers who are considering utilizing this technique themselves.
