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Published on: May 31, 2017
Intravital Microscopy of the Beating Murine Heart to Understand Cardiac Leukocyte Dynamics
Nathaniel H Allan-Rahill1, Michael R E Lamont1, William M Chilian2
1Nancy E. and Peter C. Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States.
Insights
Intravital microscopy offers new insights into leukocyte behavior in the heart, crucial for understanding cardiovascular disease. This review highlights advancements in cardiac intravital imaging and its future applications in cardiovascular immunology.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Immunology
- Cellular Biology
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Cardiovascular disease is a leading global cause of mortality.
- Leukocyte behavior is critical in cardiac function and pathology.
- The heart's unique microenvironment poses challenges for studying immune cells in vivo.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review leukocyte responses within the cardiac environment.
- To discuss recent advancements in intravital microscopy techniques for the murine heart.
- To explore future applications of cardiac intravital imaging in cardiovascular immunology.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on leukocyte behavior in the heart.
- Focus on intravital microscopy techniques adapted for cardiac imaging.
- Discussion of methods like high frame rate imaging, explantation models, and micro-endoscopy.
Main Results:
- Intravital microscopy provides unprecedented cell-scale visualization of dynamic leukocyte responses in living organ systems.
- Specific challenges in applying intravital imaging to the heart have been addressed by novel technical approaches.
- These techniques are beginning to yield significant benefits for cardiac science research.
Conclusions:
- Intravital microscopy is a powerful tool for understanding leukocyte dynamics in the heart.
- Continued development of these techniques will enhance our knowledge of cardiovascular immunology.
- This approach holds promise for unraveling complex spatiotemporal relationships in cardiac pathologies.
Abstract:
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of worldwide mortality. Intravital microscopy has provided unprecedented insight into leukocyte biology by enabling the visualization of dynamic responses within living organ systems at the cell-scale. The heart presents a uniquely dynamic microenvironment driven by periodic, synchronous electrical conduction leading to rhythmic contractions of cardiomyocytes, and phasic coronary blood flow. In addition to functions shared throughout the body, immune cells have specific functions in the heart including tissue-resident macrophage-facilitated electrical conduction and rapid monocyte infiltration upon injury. Leukocyte responses to cardiac pathologies, including myocardial infarction and heart failure, have been well-studied using standard techniques, however, certain questions related to spatiotemporal relationships remain unanswered. Intravital imaging techniques could greatly benefit our understanding of the complexities of in vivo leukocyte behavior within cardiac tissue, but these techniques have been challenging to apply. Different approaches have been developed including high frame rate imaging of the beating heart, explantation models, micro-endoscopy, and mechanical stabilization coupled with various acquisition schemes to overcome challenges specific to the heart. The field of cardiac science has only begun to benefit from intravital microscopy techniques. The current focused review presents an overview of leukocyte responses in the heart, recent developments in intravital microscopy for the murine heart, and a discussion of future developments and applications for cardiovascular immunology.
