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BIOIMAGING

Non-invasive confocal microscopy of the immune system

Nature Nanotechnology volume 17, pages 568–569 (2022)Cite this article

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Core–shell quantum dots emitting at a wavelength greater than 1,700 nm enable deep-tissue imaging of immune cells and immune structures.

More than one-third of all adults in the world suffer from multiple chronic conditions, of which the immune system plays a central role. Despite this, immunological research remains technologically challenged. There is a lack of research tools to decipher defects in the complex choreography of immune cell homing, migration, and cellular interactions the body uses to surveille, detect and eliminate ‘danger’, as well as restore immune homeostasis. Now, writing in Nature Nanotechnology, Wang et al. have reported an imaging technique that enables following immune responses in deep tissues without removing skin, exposing tissues, causing laser-induced heating, or implanting ‘window chambers’1. The team used quantum dots emitting at near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths longer than 1,700 nm and superconducting nanowire single-photon counting detectors developed for this wavelength range in order to conduct confocal fluorescence microscopy in intact rodents.

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Fig. 1: Immune structures in the meninges and brain cortex and immune cells and structures in the lymph nodes of intact mice interrogated using confocal imaging beyond 1,700 nm.

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References

  1. Wang, F. et al. Nat. Nanotechnol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-022-01130-3 (2022).

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  1. Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Texas, USA

    Eva M. Sevick-Muraca

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  1. Eva M. Sevick-Muraca
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Correspondence to Eva M. Sevick-Muraca.

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Sevick-Muraca, E.M. Non-invasive confocal microscopy of the immune system. Nat. Nanotechnol. 17, 568–569 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-022-01138-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-022-01138-9

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