J. Biomed. Opt. 21, 046008 (2016)

The realization of an imaging technique that can track multiple synaptic proteins in neuronal cells would potentially deliver precious information on the effects of neurological and psychiatric treatments. Hyperspectral imaging gives access to many narrow spectral bands over a continuous frequency range, thus avoiding spectral overlaps that limit the number of neuroreceptors observed with conventional techniques. Following this research direction, Simon Labrecque and co-workers in Canada have designed a hyperspectral microscope that can optically track distinct synaptic proteins in a live neuron. The core element of the imaging system is a tunable Bragg filter for wavelength selection. The authors used their microscope to acquire a 500 nm to 850 nm spectrum in 3.4 s using a 10-nm step size and 50-ms exposure time for each measurement, allowing the trajectories of 4 membrane neuroreceptors labelled with different quantum dots to be imaged simultaneously. The authors note that the scheme makes it possible to study the impact of specific substances on receptor mobility.