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Surgical Procedures to Study Microglial Motility in the Brain and in the Spinal Cord by In Vivo Two-Photon Laser-Scanning Microscopy

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Laser Scanning Microscopy and Quantitative Image Analysis of Neuronal Tissue

Part of the book series: Neuromethods ((NM,volume 87))

Abstract

Microglia are the innate immune cells of the central nervous system (CNS). As such, they contribute to neural inflammation in a large number of neurodegenerative diseases. The processes of microglia are continuously moving to survey the brain parenchyma. Depending on local signals, microglia can almost instantaneously change their morphology. Two-photon laser-scanning microscopy (2P-LSM) has become the method of choice to study microglia in vivo. Here, we will describe in detail surgical procedures to prepare transgenic mice with fluorescent protein expression for 2P imaging of microglia in the cortex and the spinal cord. In addition, we will give some advice how to optimize image quality.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Physiology, University of Saarland, Homburg, Germany

    Alexander Cupido, Bogdan Catalin & Frank Kirchhoff

  2. Department of Physiology, University of Medicine and Pharmacology, Craiova, Romania

    Bogdan Catalin

  3. Department of NanoBiophotonics, Max Planck Institute of Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany

    Heinz Steffens

Authors
  1. Alexander Cupido
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  2. Bogdan Catalin
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  3. Heinz Steffens
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  4. Frank Kirchhoff
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurobiology, University of OsnabrĂĽck, OsnabrĂĽck, Germany

    Lidia Bakota

  2. Department of Neurobiology, University of OsnabrĂĽck, OsnabrĂĽck, Germany

    Roland Brandt

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© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Cupido, A., Catalin, B., Steffens, H., Kirchhoff, F. (2014). Surgical Procedures to Study Microglial Motility in the Brain and in the Spinal Cord by In Vivo Two-Photon Laser-Scanning Microscopy. In: Bakota, L., Brandt, R. (eds) Laser Scanning Microscopy and Quantitative Image Analysis of Neuronal Tissue. Neuromethods, vol 87. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0381-8_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0381-8_2

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-0380-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-0381-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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