3-photon microscopy of myelin in mouse digital skin excited at the 1700-nm window
Chen He and Xiangquan Deng contributed equally to this work
Funding information: National Natural Science Foundation of China, Grant/Award Numbers: 61775143, 61975126, 62075135; (Key) Project of Department of Education of Guangdong Province, Grant/Award Number: 2017KZDXM073; Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission, Grant/Award Numbers: JCYJ20190808174819083, JCYJ20190808175201640
Abstract
Myelin is a key component of the peripheral nervous system, whose structure anomaly in the digital skin is implicated in neuropathy. Here we demonstrate an in vivo labeling and imaging technique, capable of visualizing myelin sheaths deep in the mouse digital skin. Through material characterization, we verify that 3-photon fluorescence (3PF) can be generated from a commonly used dye- FluoroMyelin Red for labeling myelin, excited at the 1700-nm window. Topical injection of FluoroMyelin Red in the mouse digit leads to bright labeling of myelin sheaths. Harnessing the deep-penetration capability of 3-photon microscopy excited at the 1700-nm window, we demonstrate that 3PF imaging of FluoroMyelin Red-labeled myelin sheaths in the mouse digit in vivo can be achieved to a depth 340 μm below the skin surface, revealing both branching bundle of and individual myelin sheaths.
Open Research
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
