Imaging of Cellular Microenvironment and Tissue Development

Francesco Pampaloni, coordinator of BRIGHTER Project at the Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main (GUF), recently published an editorial letter at the “International Journal of Molecular Sciences” talking about multi-modal and molecular imaging of cellular microenvironment and tissue development.

In this article, Pampaloni highlights the importance of properly imaging of individual cells inside their surrounding microenvironment for studies in fields like tissue engineering and bioprinting. Different technologies for the imaging of large three-dimensional cell cultures and even whole organs have been developed in recent years, and they are in constant evolution and improvement.

Different contrast modalities confer distinct advantages and drawbacks depending on the cell/tissue/organ to be observed, and the choice depends on the particularities of each case.

This article presents some of the most used techniques to image the cell microenvironment and the tissue with their pros and cons: the fluorescence microscopy and the label-free microscopy. However, the main subject explored in the article is the combination of both techniques in multi-modal systems. That can provide a deep insight into the cellular processes and interactions in highly heterogenous tissue microenvironments.

Reference article: Multi-Modal and Molecular Imaging of Cellular Microenvironment and Tissue Development. Francesco Pampaloni. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(13), 7113; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23137113.