Abstract
We describe a technique of imaging tissue oxygen using phosphorescence based probes and TCSPC-PLIM method. Included is a brief overview of the significance of biological oxygen imaging, the theory behind the phosphorescence quenching method, the main O2 sensitive probes (mostly intracellular, cell-permeable) and imaging modalities currently available, highlighting their merits and limitations. In the practical part, the live cell microscopy imaging and TCSPC-PLIM hardware and software are described, along with the detailed experimental procedures of preparation of tissue samples, their staining with intracellular O2 probes, acquisition of PLIM images and their processing to produce 2D and 3D maps of O2 concentration. Several examples demonstrate practical use of O2 imaging with different models of mammalian tissue, including cell mono-layers (2D model), multi-cellular spheroids, scaffold structures and tissue slices (3D models). Physiological experiments and multi-parametric analysis of these samples with some other fluorescent imaging probes are also presented.
James Jenkins and Ruslan I. Dmitriev these authors contributed equally to this work.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
W. Becker, A. Bergmann, M.A. Hink, K. König, K. Benndorf, C. Biskup, Fluorescence lifetime imaging by time-correlated single photon counting. Microsc. Res. Techn. 63, 58–66 (2004)
W. Becker, Advanced Time-Correlated Single-Photon Counting Techniques (Springer, Berlin, 2005)
W. Becker, A. Bergmann, C. Biskup, Multispectral fluorescence lifetime imaging by TCSPC. Microsc. Res. Tech. 70, 403–409 (2007)
W. Becker, A. Bergmann, Lifetime-Resolved Imaging in Nonlinear Microscopy, in Handbook of Biomedical Nonlinear Optical Microscopy, ed by B.R. Masters, P.T.C. So (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2008)
W. Becker, B. Su, K. Weisshart, O. Holub, FLIM and FCS detection in laser-scanning microscopes: increased efficiency by GaAsP hybrid detectors. Microsc. Res. Tech. 74, 804–811 (2011)
W. Becker, B. Su, A. Bergmann, K. Weisshart, O. Holub, Simultaneous fluorescence and phosphorescence lifetime imaging. Proc. SPIE 7903, 790320 (2011)
DCS-120 Confocal Scanning FLIM Systems, user handbook, edition (Becker & Hickl GmbH, Berlin, 2012), available on www.becker-hickl.com
W. Becker, The bh TCSPC Handbook. 5th edn, (Becker & Hickl GmbH, Berlin, 2012), available on www.becker-hickl.com
W. Becker, Fluorescence lifetime imaging–techniques and applications. J. Microsc. 247, 119–136 (2012)
E.R. Carraway, J.N. Demas, B.A. DeGraff, J.R. Bacon, Photophysics and photochemistry of oxygen sensors based on luminescent transition-metal complexes. Anal. Chem. 63, 337–342 (1991)
M.R. Chatni, G. Li, D.M. Porterfield, Frequency-domain fluorescence lifetime optrode system design and instrumentation without a concurrent reference light-emitting diode. Appl. Opt. 48, 5528–5536 (2009)
R.I. Dmitriev, D.B. Papkovsky, Optical probes and techniques for O2 measurement in live cells and tissue. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 69, 2025–2039 (2012)
R.I. Dmitriev, A.V. Zhdanov, G. Jasionek, D.B. Papkovsky, Assessment of cellular oxygen gradients with a panel of phosphorescent oxygen-sensitive probes. Anal. Chem. 84, 2930–2938 (2012)
R.I. Dmitriev, A.V. Zhdanov, Y.M. Nolan, D.B. Papkovsky, Imaging of neurosphere oxygenation with phosphorescent probes. Biomaterials 34, 9307–9317 (2013)
R.I. Dmitriev, A.V. Kondrashina, K. Koren, I. Klimant, A.V. Zhdanov, J.M.P. Pakan, K.W. McDermott, D.B. Papkovsky, Small molecule phosphorescent probes for O2 imaging in 3D tissue models. Biomater. Sci. 2, 853–866 (2014)
R. Dmitriev, S. Borisov, A. Kondrashina, J. P. Pakan, U. Anilkumar, J. M. Prehn, A. Zhdanov, K. McDermott, I. Klimant, D. Papkovsky, Imaging oxygen in neural cell and tissue models by means of anionic cell-permeable phosphorescent nanoparticles. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. (2014) doi: DOI:10.1007/s00018-014-1673-5.
I. Dunphy, S.A. Vinogradov, D.F. Wilson, Oxyphor R2 and G2: phosphors for measuring oxygen by oxygen-dependent quenching of phosphorescence. Anal. Biochem. 310, 191–198 (2002)
N.T. Elliott, F. Yuan, A review of three-dimensional in vitro tissue models for drug discovery and transport studies. J. Pharm. Sci. 100, 59–74 (2011)
T. Fenchel, B. Finlay, Oxygen and the spatial structure of microbial communities. Biol. Rev. Camb. Philos. Soc. 83, 553–569 (2008)
Y. Feng, J. Cheng, L. Zhou, X. Zhou, H. Xiang, Ratiometric optical oxygen sensing: a review in respect of material design. Analyst 137, 4885–4901 (2012)
A. Fercher, S.M. Borisov, A.V. Zhdanov, I. Klimant, D.B. Papkovsky, Intracellular O2 sensing probe based on cell-penetrating phosphorescent nanoparticles. ACS Nano 5, 5499–5508 (2011)
O.S. Finikova, A.V. Cheprakov, S.A. Vinogradov, Synthesis and Luminescence of Soluble meso-Unsubstituted Tetrabenzo- and Tetranaphtho[2, 3]porphyrins. J. Org. Chem. 70, 9562–9572 (2005)
K.A. Foster, F. Galeffi, F.J. Gerich, D.A. Turner, M. Müller, Optical and pharmacological tools to investigate the role of mitochondria during oxidative stress and neurodegeneration. Prog. Neurobiol. 79, 136–171 (2006)
M.M. Frigault, J. Lacoste, J.L. Swift, C.M. Brown, Live-cell microscopy–tips and tools. J. Cell Sci. 122, 753–767 (2009)
L.G. Griffith, M.A. Swartz, Capturing complex 3D tissue physiology in vitro. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 7, 211–224 (2006)
X.-Y. Han, B. Wei, J.-F. Fang, S. Zhang, F.-C. Zhang, H.-B. Zhang, T.-Y. Lan, H.-Q. Lu, H.-B. Wei, Epithelial-mesenchymal transition associates with maintenance of stemness in spheroid-derived stem-like colon cancer cells. PLoS ONE 8, e73341 (2013)
Y.-L. Hu, M. DeLay, A. Jahangiri, A.M. Molinaro, S.D. Rose, W.S. Carbonell, M.K. Aghi, Hypoxia-Induced autophagy promotes tumor cell survival and adaptation to antiangiogenic treatment in glioblastoma. Cancer Res. 72, 1773–1783 (2012)
K. Kellner, G. Liebsch, I. Klimant, O.S. Wolfbeis, T. Blunk, M.B. Schulz, A. Göpferich, Determination of oxygen gradients in engineered tissue using a fluorescent sensor. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 80, 73–83 (2002)
E. Knight, B. Murray, R. Carnachan, S. Przyborski, Alvetex(R): polystyrene scaffold technology for routine three dimensional cell culture. Methods Mol. Biol. 695, 323–340 (2011)
A.V. Kondrashina, R.I. Dmitriev, S.M. Borisov, I. Klimant, I. O’Brien, Y.M. Nolan, A.V. Zhdanov, D.B. Papkovsky, A phosphorescent nanoparticle-based probe for sensing and imaging of (intra) cellular oxygen in multiple detection modalities. Adv. Funct. Mater. 22, 4931–4939 (2012)
Y.E. Koo, Y. Cao, R. Kopelman, S.M. Koo, M. Brasuel, M.A. Philbert, Real-time measurements of dissolved oxygen inside live cells by organically modified silicate fluorescent nanosensors. Anal. Chem. 76, 2498–2505 (2004)
J. Lakowicz, E. Terpetschnig, Z. Murtaza, H. Szmacinski, Development of long-lifetime metal-ligand probes for biophysics and cellular imaging. J. Fluoresc. 7, 17–25 (1997)
A.Y. Lebedev, A.V. Cheprakov, S. Sakadzic, D.A. Boas, D.F. Wilson, S.A. Vinogradov, Dendritic phosphorescent probes for oxygen imaging in biological systems. ACS Appl. Mat. Interfaces 1, 1292–1304 (2009)
K. Lee, R.A. Roth, J.J. LaPres, Hypoxia, drug therapy and toxicity. Pharm Ther 113, 229–246 (2007)
Y.E. Lee, E.E. Ulbrich, G. Kim, H. Hah, C. Strollo, W. Fan, R. Gurjar, S. Koo, R. Kopelman, Near infrared luminescent oxygen nanosensors with nanoparticle matrix tailored sensitivity. Anal. Chem. 82, 8446–8455 (2010)
L.U. Ling, K.B. Tan, H. Lin, G.N.C. Chiu, The role of reactive oxygen species and autophagy in safingol-induced cell death. Cell Death and Dis. 2, e129 (2011)
J. Liu, J. Hilderink, T.A. Groothuis, C. Otto, C.A. Blitterswijk, J. Boer, Monitoring nutrient transport in tissue engineered grafts. J. Tissue Eng. Regen. Med. (2013). doi: 10.1002/term.1654
D.J. Maltman, S.A. Przyborski, Developments in three-dimensional cell culture technology aimed at improving the accuracy of in vitro analyses. Biochem. Soc. Trans. 38, 1072–1075 (2010)
D. McLoskey, D. Campbell, A. Allison, G. Hungerford, Fast time-correlated single-photon counting fluorescence lifetime acquisition using a 100 MHz semiconductor excitation source. Meas. Sci. Technol. 22, 067001 (2011)
G. Mehta, A.Y. Hsiao, M. Ingram, G.D. Luker, S. Takayama, Opportunities and challenges for use of tumor spheroids as models to test drug delivery and efficacy. J. Control Release 164, 192–204 (2012)
R.L. Morris, T.M. Schmidt, Shallow breathing: bacterial life at low O(2). Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 11, 205–212 (2013)
F.A. Navarro, P.T. So, R. Nirmalan, N. Kropf, F. Sakaguchi, C.S. Park, H.B. Lee, D.P. Orgill, Two-photon confocal microscopy: a nondestructive method for studying wound healing. Plast. Reconst. Surg. 114, 121–128 (2004)
U. Neugebauer, Y. Pellegrin, M. Devocelle, R.J. Forster, W. Signac, N. Moran, T.E. Keyes, Ruthenium polypyridyl peptide conjugates: membrane permeable probes for cellular imaging. Chem. Commun. 5307–5309 (2008). doi: 10.1039/B810403D
D.G. Nicholls, L. Johnson‐Cadwell, S. Vesce, M. Jekabsons, N. Yadava, Bioenergetics of mitochondria in cultured neurons and their role in glutamate excitotoxicity. J. Neurosci. Res. 85, 3206–3212 (2007)
D.V. O’Connor, D. Phillips, Time-Correlated Single Photon Counting (Academic Press, London, 1984)
T.C. O’Riordan, A.V. Zhdanov, G.V. Ponomarev, D.B. Papkovsky, Analysis of intracellular oxygen and metabolic responses of mammalian cells by time-resolved fluorometry. Anal. Chem. 79, 9414–9419 (2007)
F. Pampaloni, E.G. Reynaud, E.H. Stelzer, The third dimension bridges the gap between cell culture and live tissue. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 8, 839–845 (2007)
D. Papkovsky, A.V. Zhdanov, A. Fercher, R.I. Dmitriev, J. Hynes, Phosphorescent Oxygen-Sensitive Probes (Springer, Berlin, 2012)
D.B. Papkovsky, R.I. Dmitriev, Biological detection by optical oxygen sensing. Chem. Soc. Rev. 42, 8700–8732 (2013)
J.P. Philip, K. Carlsson, Theoretical investigation of the signal-to-noise ratio in fluorescence lifetime imaging. J. Opt. Soc. Am. A20, 368–379 (2003)
M. Quaranta, S.M. Borisov, I. Klimant, Indicators for optical oxygen sensors. Bioanal. Rev. 4, 115–157 (2012)
M. Radisic, J. Malda, E. Epping, W. Geng, R. Langer, G. Vunjak-Novakovic, Oxygen gradients correlate with cell density and cell viability in engineered cardiac tissue. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 93, 332–343 (2006)
S. Saharudin, K.M. Isha, Z. Mahmud, S.H. Herman, U.M. Noor, Performance evaluation of optical fiber sensor using different oxygen sensitive nano-materials, in Photonics (ICP). 2013 IEEE 4th International Conference on (IEEE2013), pp. 309–312
H. Sauer, M. Wartenberg, J. Hescheler, Reactive oxygen species as intracellular messengers during cell growth and differentiation. Cell Phys. and Biochem. 11, 173–186 (2001)
G.L. Semenza, Hypoxia, clonal selection, and the role of HIF-1 in tumor progression. Crit. Rev. Biochem. Mol. Biol. 35, 71–103 (2000)
J.A. Spencer, F. Ferraro, E. Roussakis, A. Klein, J. Wu, J.M. Runnels, W. Zaher, L.J. Mortensen, C. Alt, R. Turcotte, R. Yusuf, D. Cote, S.A. Vinogradov, D.T. Scadden, C.P. Lin, Direct measurement of local oxygen concentration in the bone marrow of live animals. Nature 508(7495), 269–273 (2014)
E. Takahashi, T. Takano, Y. Nomura, S. Okano, O. Nakajima, M. Sato, In vivo oxygen imaging using green fluorescent protein. Am. J. Physiol. Cell Physiol. 291, 31 (2006)
P. Taupin, BrdU immunohistochemistry for studying adult neurogenesis: paradigms, pitfalls, limitations, and validation. Brain Res. Rev. 53, 198–214 (2007)
V. Tsytsarev, H. Arakawa, S. Borisov, E. Pumbo, R.S. Erzurumlu, D.B. Papkovsky, In vivo imaging of brain metabolism activity using a phosphorescent oxygen-sensitive probe. J. Neurosci. Methods 216, 146–151 (2013)
Y.-C. Tung, A.Y. Hsiao, S.G. Allen, Y.-S. Torisawa, M. Ho, S. Takayama, High-throughput 3D spheroid culture and drug testing using a 384 hanging drop array. Analyst 136, 473–478 (2011)
A.M. Weljie, F.R. Jirik, Hypoxia-induced metabolic shifts in cancer cells: Moving beyond the Warburg effect. Int. J. Biochem. Cell Biol. 43, 981–989 (2011)
A. Williamson, S. Singh, U. Fernekorn, A. Schober, The future of the patient-specific Body-on-a-chip. Lab Chip 13, 3471–3480 (2013)
D.F. Wilson, W.M.F. Lee, S. Makonnen, O. Finikova, S. Apreleva, S.A. Vinogradov, Oxygen pressures in the interstitial space and their relationship to those in the blood plasma in resting skeletal muscle. J. Appl. Physiol. 101, 1648–1656 (2006)
W.R. Wilson, M.P. Hay, Targeting hypoxia in cancer therapy. Nat. Rev. Cancer 11, 393–410 (2011)
K.M. Yamada, E. Cukierman, Modeling tissue morphogenesis and cancer in 3D. Cell 130, 601–610 (2007)
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Science Foundation Ireland, grant 12/RC/2276, the European Commission FP7 Program, grant FP7-HEALTH-2012-INNOVATION-304842-2.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Jenkins, J., Dmitriev, R.I., Papkovsky, D.B. (2015). Imaging Cell and Tissue O2 by TCSPC-PLIM. In: Becker, W. (eds) Advanced Time-Correlated Single Photon Counting Applications. Springer Series in Chemical Physics, vol 111. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14929-5_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14929-5_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-14928-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-14929-5
eBook Packages: Chemistry and Materials ScienceChemistry and Material Science (R0)