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Updated: May 29, 2026
Dissection and 2-Photon Imaging of Peripheral Lymph Nodes in Mice
Published on: August 23, 2007
Multiphoton intravital microscopy to study lymphocyte motility in lymph nodes
Thomas T Murooka1, Thorsten R Mempel
1Center for Immunology and Inflammatory Diseases and Center for Systems Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Insights
Multiphoton intravital microscopy (MP-IVM) visualizes lymphocyte motility in mouse lymph nodes. This advanced technique enables high-resolution, in vivo tracking of immune cell behavior within tissues.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Microscopy
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Intravital microscopy (IVM) provides high-resolution, in vivo visualization of biological processes.
- Conventional microscopy struggles with light-scattering tissues, limiting deep tissue imaging.
- Nonlinear optical imaging, like multiphoton microscopy, overcomes these limitations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To detail a technique for monitoring lymphocyte motility in mouse lymph nodes.
- To enable single-cell level analysis of immune cell behavior in vivo.
- To extend IVM capabilities to deep, light-scattering tissues.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing multiphoton intravital microscopy (MP-IVM).
- Focusing on the visualization of lymphocyte migration and interactions.
- Applying the technique within the physiological context of mouse lymph nodes.
Main Results:
- MP-IVM successfully visualizes dynamic biological processes deep within tissues.
- The technique allows for high spatial and temporal resolution of cellular functions.
- Important insights into immune cell behavior at steady state and during immune responses are gained.
Conclusions:
- MP-IVM is a powerful tool for studying immune cell dynamics in vivo.
- This method significantly advances the study of lymphocyte behavior in lymph nodes.
- The technique opens new avenues for understanding immune responses at the cellular level.
Abstract:
Intravital microscopy (IVM) allows for the direct in vivo visualization of dynamic biological processes in their physiological context at high spatial and temporal resolution. Novel nonlinear optical imaging modalities, most prominently multiphoton microscopy, have extended the spectrum of cellular functions amenable to IVM investigation to include migration and cell-cell interactions occurring deep inside the highly light-scattering environments of solid tissues, which had so far been inaccessible to conventional microscopy techniques. This has led to important new insights into immune cell behavior at steady state, as well as their change in behavior during an immune response. Here, we describe in detail a technique that allows for the monitoring of lymphocyte motility in the lymph nodes of mice at the single cell level using multiphoton intravital microscopy (MP-IVM).
