Multiscale imaging of colitis in mice using confocal laser endomicroscopy, light-sheet fluorescence microscopy, and magnetic resonance imaging

  • J Biomed Opt. 2019 Jan;24(1):1-8. doi: 10.1117/1.JBO.24.1.016003.
Tianmeng Li  1  2  3 ,  Hui Hui  2  3  4 ,  Chaoen Hu  2  3 ,  He Ma  1 ,  Xin Yang  2  3 ,  Jie Tian  2  3  4
Affiliations
  • 1. Northeastern University, Sino-Dutch Biomedical and Information Engineering School, Shenyang, China.
  • 2. Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Automation, CAS Key Laboratory of Molecular Imaging, Beiji, China.
  • 3. Institute of Automation, Beijing Key Laboratory of Molecular Imaging, Beijing, China.
  • 4. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
PMID: 30701723 DOI: 10.1117/1.JBO.24.1.016003
Abstract

The objective of our study is to develop a multimodality approach by combining magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and optical imaging methods to assess acute murine colitis at the macro- and microscopic level. In vivo MRI is used to measure the cross-sectional areas of colons at the macroscopic level. Dual-color confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE) allows in vivo examination of the fluorescently labeled epithelial cells and microvessels in the mucosa with a spatial resolution of ∼1.4 μm during ongoing endoscopy. To further validate the structural changes of the colons in three-dimensions, ex vivo light-sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM) is applied for in-toto imaging of cleared colon sections. MRI, LSFM, and CLE findings are significantly correlated with histological scoring (p < 0.01) and the inflammation-associated activity index (p < 0.01). Our multimodality imaging technique permits visualization of mucosa in colitis at different scales, which can enhance our understanding of the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel diseases.

Keywords
confocal laser endomicroscopy; inflammatory bowel disease; light-sheet fluorescence microscopy; magnetic resonance imaging; multimodality imaging.
Products