Open AccessIn vivo two-photon microscopy of the hippocampus using glass plugs
Author(s) -
Mary Grace M. Velasco,
Michael J. Levene
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
biomedical optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.362
H-Index - 86
ISSN - 2156-7085
DOI - 10.1364/boe.5.001700
Subject(s) - microscopy , optics , two photon excitation microscopy , hippocampus , fluorescence microscope , preclinical imaging , materials science , dendritic spine , ablation , fluorescence , in vivo , biomedical engineering , biology , physics , neuroscience , medicine , hippocampal formation , microbiology and biotechnology
Two-photon microscopy has been used in conjunction with micro-optics, such as GRIN lenses, to access subcortical structures in the intact mouse brain. In this study, we demonstrate the use of thick glass windows, or plugs, for high-resolution, large field-of-view two-photon imaging of the hippocampus in a live mouse. These plugs are less expensive, yield larger fields-of-view and are simpler to use than GRIN lenses while requiring less tissue removal compared to previous methods based on cortical ablation. To demonstrate the capabilities of our system, we show fluorescence images of dendritic spines in the CA1 region of the hippocampus in THY1-YFP transgenic mice.