Live-Cell Imaging of Fish Epidermal Keratocytes

Area of Science:

• Cell Biology
• Biophysics
• Developmental Biology

Background:

• Fish epidermal keratocytes are a model for cell motility.
• Research is shifting from single-cell to collective migration.
• Primary cultures from fish scales are used due to lack of continuous cell lines.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present optimized protocols for studying fish keratocyte migration.
• To enable visualization of molecular and cellular behaviors.
• To facilitate research in both single-cell and collective migration.

Main Methods:

• Culturing primary fish epidermal keratocytes.
• Transiently introducing fluorescent probes via custom electroporation.
• Performing high-resolution 3D time-lapse imaging with confocal microscopy.

Main Results:

• Optimized protocols for keratocyte culture and probe introduction.
• High-resolution 3D imaging of dynamic cellular behaviors.
• Visualization of both single-cell and collective migration.

Conclusions:

• The presented protocols enhance the study of fish keratocyte migration.
• These methods allow detailed visualization of dynamic cellular processes.
• The techniques support research into single-cell and collective cell motility.