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Published on: March 25, 2016
A decade of imaging cellular motility and interaction dynamics in the immune system
Ronald N Germain1, Ellen A Robey, Michael D Cahalan
1Laboratory of Systems Biology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. rgermain@nih.gov
Insights
In vivo live-cell imaging reveals immune cell behavior during immune responses. This technique quantifies lymphocyte motility and interactions, offering new insights into adaptive and innate immunity.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Cell Biology
- Microscopy
Background:
- Mounting an immune response requires lymphocytes to circulate, recognize antigens, proliferate, differentiate, and migrate.
- Cellular motility and interactions are crucial for immune responses but were historically difficult to observe.
- In vivo live-cell imaging, introduced in 2002, revolutionized the study of immune cell behavior.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review emerging themes from in vivo live-cell imaging studies of immune responses.
- To highlight the quantitative insights gained into cellular motility, interactions, and dynamics.
- To speculate on the future directions of immunoimaging in immunology.
Main Methods:
- In vivo live-cell imaging techniques applied to study immune cells in various tissue environments.
- Quantitative measurement of lymphocyte motility and cell-cell interactions.
- Analysis of immune cell behavior during adaptive and innate immune responses.
Main Results:
- Live-cell imaging provides unprecedented views of immune cell behavior in real-time.
- Studies reveal quantitative data on cellular motility, interactions, and response dynamics.
- Immunoimaging is uncovering the complex orchestration of immune cells in diverse tissues.
Conclusions:
- In vivo live-cell imaging has transformed our understanding of immune cell dynamics.
- This technology offers powerful tools for studying both adaptive and innate immunity.
- Future advancements in immunoimaging promise deeper insights into immune function and disease.
Abstract:
To mount an immune response, lymphocytes must recirculate between the blood and lymph nodes, recognize antigens upon contact with specialized presenting cells, proliferate to expand a small number of clonally relevant lymphocytes, differentiate to antibody-producing plasma cells or effector T cells, exit from lymph nodes, migrate to tissues, and engage in host-protective activities. All of these processes involve motility and cellular interactions--events that were hidden from view until recently. Introduced to immunology by three papers in this journal in 2002, in vivo live-cell imaging studies are revealing the behavior of cells mediating adaptive and innate immunity in diverse tissue environments, providing quantitative measurement of cellular motility, interactions, and response dynamics. Here, we review themes emerging from such studies and speculate on the future of immunoimaging.
