Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin
Online ISSN : 1347-5215
Print ISSN : 0918-6158
ISSN-L : 0918-6158
Current Topics
Imaging Analysis of Insulin Secretion with Two-Photon Microscopy
Noriko Takahashi
Author information
JOURNAL FREE ACCESS FULL-TEXT HTML

2015 Volume 38 Issue 5 Pages 656-662

Details
Abstract

High-resolution deep tissue imaging is possible with two-photon excitation microscopy. With the combined application of two-photon imaging and perfusion with a polar fluorescent tracer, we have established a method to detect exocytic events inside secretory tissues. This method displays the spatiotemporal distribution of exocytic sites, dynamics of fusion pores, and modes of exocytosis. In glucose-stimulated pancreatic islets, exocytic events were observed to be synchronized with an increase in cytosolic Ca2+ concentrations. Full fusion of a single secretory granule is the typical mode of exocytosis and compound exocytosis is inhibited. Because two-photon excitation enables simultaneous multicolor imaging due to the broadened excitation spectra, the distributions and conformational changes in fluorescent-labeled molecules can be simultaneously visualized with exocytic events. Therefore, we can analyze the dynamics of the molecules involved in membrane fusion and their association with exocytosis in living tissues.

Content from these authors
© 2015 The Pharmaceutical Society of Japan
Previous article Next article
feedback
Top