Application of super-resolution microscopy to the study of B and T lymphocyte mitochondria morphology and metabolism

Abstract

Abstract High-resolution microscopy techniques have advanced our understanding of lymphocyte biology. An emerging focus in the field of immunometabolism on activation-induced metabolic reprogramming and its effects on immune cell function will require in-depth analyses of mitochondria. However, even with newer imaging technologies, obtaining super-resolution images of lymphocyte mitochondria remains challenging due to their small cytoplasmic sizes. Here, we compared standard confocal laser microscopy with three commonly used super-resolution methods to analyze activation-induced mitochondrial changes in B and T cells. Naïve B cells were stimulated in vitro via Toll-like receptor 9 and/or the B cell receptor, and naïve T cells were differentiated in vitro into activated or T regulatory phenotypes. The cells were imaged using standard laser confocal microscopy, AiryScan, stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy, and computerized tomography electron microscopy (TEM). Mitochondrial morphology was best resolved by staining both the mitochondrial membrane and matrix simultaneously. In preliminary analyses, we observed activation-induced changes in the distribution of lymphocyte mitochondria. Of the imaging methods used, only TEM allowed for 3D reconstructions of the mitochondria’s internal structure, which revealed swelling of the inner matrix and significant loss of cristae in B cells, but not in T cells. In conclusion, the super-resolution light microscopy techniques we developed appear to be powerful tools for immunometabolism studies of lymphocyte mitochondria, having demonstrated clear visualization even at the molecular level, while TEM answered key questions about intra-mitochondrial morphology.