Using Correlative Microscopy in the Study of Biological-Biomaterial Interactions

Abstract

The application of two or more imaging-based technologies to portions of a sample prepared in parallel or preferably to the exact same sample in series is the basis for correlative microscopy. Simultaneous visualization of structure in conjunction with other cellular parameters such as cell motility, intracellular ion concentration, receptor expression, and protein distribution/movement can be followed in living cells by various forms of photon, acoustic, and force based microscopy. The same cells can subsequently be prepared by various physical or chemical based procedures and reexamined by other microscopic methodologies to gain additional qualitative and quantitative information often at significantly increased levels of resolution. Recent advances key to correlative microscopy have been the development of high sensitivity, high resolution video cameras, and computer image processing, image enhancement, image analysis, and reconstruction capabilities. New instrumentation such as video enhanced, rectified interference-based light microscopy,LM; confocal LM, and two and three photon LM also have been critical.