Observing the cell in its native state: Imaging subcellular dynamics in multicellular organisms

TLDR

The resolution revolution in cell biology faces a trade‑off between achieving high spatiotemporal resolution and avoiding perturbations that degrade subcellular imaging quality. The authors employ lattice light‑sheet microscopy combined with aberration‑correcting adaptive optics to image delicate subcellular processes in vivo under gentle illumination. Liu et al., Science, this issue, DOI aaq1392.

Abstract

Continuing the resolution revolution The living cell contains dynamic, spatially complex subassemblies that are sensitive to external perturbations. To minimize such perturbations, cells should be imaged in their native multicellular environments, under as gentle illumination as possible. However, achieving the spatiotemporal resolution needed to follow three-dimensional subcellular processes in detail under these conditions is challenging: Sample-induced aberrations degrade resolution and sensitivity, and high resolution usually requires intense excitation. Liu et al. combined noninvasive lattice light-sheet microscopy with aberration-correcting adaptive optics to study a variety of delicate subcellular events in vivo, including organelle remodeling during mitosis and growth cone dynamics during spinal cord development. Science , this issue p. aaq1392