Multi-scale mesoscopic imaging

Session

Session 6 - Imaging Across Scales

Authors

Jim Swoger (1)

Affiliations

1. European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)

Keywords

mesoscopy, multi-scale imaging, three-dimensional biology

Abstract text

Many challenges in modern biomedical sciences cannot be easily addressed by working with monolayers of cells cultured on a flat coverslip or dish.  The 3D context of the organ or organism of interest can be essential for a thorough understanding of subjects such as vertebrate development, cancer biology, or the progress of an infectious disease.  Thus, imaging techniques that can be used in three-dimensional biological samples with dimensions on the order of 100s of microns to a few centimeters – mesoscopic imaging – become essential.

Although there are several techniques currently available that are suitable for mesoscopic imaging, none can serve as a “silver bullet” to solve all problems.  On one hand, methods that are well-suited for live imaging of mesoscopic samples often do not have the resolution to answer questions at the cellular level.  On the other hand, cellular detail may be necessary to investigate critical, rare cell-cell interactions.  In short, an imaging technique that is capable of locating, say, a lesion in an intact mouse brain may not be the appropriate one for investigating that lesion in detail.

In this presentation I will give an overview of mesoscopic imaging and some of the techniques that can be used to complement each other at different scales, and then describe some examples of how this type of methodology can be beneficial.