3D Live Cell Imaging

The Franck Lab demonstrates their capabilities in cell culture and live-cell imaging with this video of in-vitro neuronal cells. The cells are cultured in a 3D collagen hydrogel scaffold, and their branches grow in all directions creating an interconnected network of neurons, and glial cells. They use a commercially available neuron-specific live-cell fluorescent dye to image some of the cultured cells with multi-photon microscopy at a 40x magnification. This allows features smaller than one micrometer to be clearly visible for further analysis. The video is produced using the rendering software built-in to the Nikon Elements software that controls these state-of-the-art microscopes.