Leilei Peng

Cellular imaging of deep organ using two-photon Bessel light-sheet nonlinear structured illumination microscopy

In vivo fluorescent cellular imaging of deep internal organs is highly challenging, because the excitation needs to penetrate through strong scattering tissue and the emission signal is degraded significantly by photon diffusion induced by tissue-scattering. We report that by combining two-photon Bessel light-sheet microscopy with nonlinear structured illumination microscopy (SIM), live samples up to 600 microns wide can be imaged by light-sheet microscopy with 500 microns penetration depth, and diffused background in deep tissue light-sheet imaging can be reduced to obtain clear images at cellular resolution in depth beyond 200 microns. We demonstrate in vivo two-color imaging of pronephric glomeruli and vasculature of zebrafish kidney, whose cellular structures located at the center of the fish body are revealed in high clarity by two-color two-photon Bessel light-sheet SIM.

Nonlinear structured illumination microscopy by surface plasmon enhanced stimulated emission depletion

Nonlinear structured illumination microscopy (SIM) in theory has unlimited resolution over a full field of view. However under a realistic signal-to-noise ratio and a limited photon budget, the performance of nonlinear SIM strongly depends on the behavior of the nonlinear effect. Saturated SIM (SSIM) is not ideal in biological applications due to its strong photobleaching. Stimulated emission depletion (STED) SIM will have high sensitivity, higher resolution and less photo toxicity than SSIM. However, the laser power necessary to support a strong full-field STED effect is not attainable with current laser technology. We experimentally proved that surface plasmon resonance enhances (SPR) near surface STED effect by a factor of 8, and therefore STED-SIM is feasible in the total internal reflection microscopy mode with SPR enhancement. Simulation analysis predicts that SPR enhanced 2D STED is strong enough for nonlinear SIM to achieve high-speed imaging at 30-nm resolution and single molecule sensitivity. The STED-SIM superresolution microscopy method would provide a solution for observing single molecule processes in vitro or on the basal membrane of live cells.

Parallel excitation-emission multiplexed fluorescence lifetime confocal microscopy for live cell imaging

We present a novel excitation-emission multiplexed fluorescence lifetime microscopy (FLIM) method that surpasses current FLIM techniques in multiplexing capability. The method employs Fourier multiplexing to simultaneously acquire confocal fluorescence lifetime images of multiple excitation wavelength and emission color combinations at 44,000 pixels/sec. The system is built with low-cost CW laser sources and standard PMTs with versatile spectral configuration, which can be implemented as an add-on to commercial confocal microscopes. The Fourier lifetime confocal method allows fast multiplexed FLIM imaging, which makes it possible to monitor multiple biological processes in live cells. The low cost and compatibility with commercial systems could also make multiplexed FLIM more accessible to biological research community.

Multiplexed 3D FRET imaging in deep tissue of live embryos

Current deep tissue microscopy techniques are mostly restricted to intensity mapping of fluorophores, which significantly limit their applications in investigating biochemical processes in vivo. We present a deep tissue multiplexed functional imaging method that probes multiple Förster resonant energy transfer (FRET) sensors in live embryos with high spatial resolution. The method simultaneously images fluorescence lifetimes in 3D with multiple excitation lasers. Through quantitative analysis of triple-channel intensity and lifetime images, we demonstrated that Ca2+ and cAMP levels of live embryos expressing dual FRET sensors can be monitored simultaneously at microscopic resolution. The method is compatible with a broad range of FRET sensors currently available for probing various cellular biochemical functions. It opens the door to imaging complex cellular circuitries in whole live organisms.

Quantitative multi-color FRET measurements by Fourier lifetime excitation-emission matrix spectroscopy.

Förster resonant energy transfer (FRET) is extensively used to probe macromolecular interactions and conformation changes. The established FRET lifetime analysis method measures the FRET process through its effect on the donor lifetime. In this paper we present a method that directly probes the time-resolved FRET signal with frequency domain Fourier lifetime excitation-emission matrix (FLEEM) measurements. FLEEM separates fluorescent signals by their different phonon energy pathways from excitation to emission. The FRET process generates a unique signal channel that is initiated by donor excitation but ends with acceptor emission. Time-resolved analysis of the FRET EEM channel allows direct measurements on the FRET process, unaffected by free fluorophores that might be present in the sample. Together with time-resolved analysis on non-FRET channels, i.e. donor and acceptor EEM channels, time resolved EEM analysis allows precise quantification of FRET in the presence of free fluorophores. The method is extended to three-color FRET processes, where quantification with traditional methods remains challenging because of the significantly increased complexity in the three-way FRET interactions. We demonstrate the time-resolved EEM analysis method with quantification of three-color FRET in incompletely hybridized triple-labeled DNA oligonucleotides. Quantitative measurements of the three-color FRET process in triple-labeled dsDNA are obtained in the presence of free single-labeled ssDNA and double-labeled dsDNA. The results establish a quantification method for studying multi-color FRET between multiple macromolecules in biochemical equilibrium.

FPGA-based multi-channel fluorescence lifetime analysis of Fourier multiplexed frequency-sweeping lifetime imaging

We report a fast non-iterative lifetime data analysis method for the Fourier multiplexed frequency-sweeping confocal FLIM (Fm-FLIM) system [Opt. Express 22, 10221 (2014)]. The new method, named R-method, allows fast multi-channel lifetime image analysis in the systems FPGA data processing board. Experimental tests proved that the performance of the R-method is equivalent to that of single-exponential iterative fitting, and its sensitivity is well suited for time-lapse FLIM-FRET imaging of live cells, for example cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) level imaging with GFP-Epac-mCherry sensors. With the R-method and its FPGA implementation, multi-channel lifetime images can now be generated in real time on the multi-channel frequency-sweeping FLIM system, and live readout of FRET sensors can be performed during time-lapse imaging.

Parallel-multiplexed excitation light-sheet microscopy (Conference Presentation)

Laser scanning light-sheet imaging allows fast 3D image of live samples with minimal bleach and photo-toxicity. Existing light-sheet techniques have very limited capability in multi-label imaging. Hyper-spectral imaging is needed to unmix commonly used fluorescent proteins with large spectral overlaps. However, the challenge is how to perform hyper-spectral imaging without sacrificing the image speed, so that dynamic and complex events can be captured live. We report wavelength-encoded structured illumination light sheet imaging (λ-SIM light-sheet), a novel light-sheet technique that is capable of parallel multiplexing in multiple excitation-emission spectral channels. λ-SIM light-sheet captures images of all possible excitation-emission channels in true parallel. It does not require compromising the imaging speed and is capable of distinguish labels by both excitation and emission spectral properties, which facilitates unmixing fluorescent labels with overlapping spectral peaks and will allow more labels being used together. We build a hyper-spectral light-sheet microscope that combined λ-SIM with an extended field of view through Bessel beam illumination. The system has a 250-micron-wide field of view and confocal level resolution. The microscope, equipped with multiple laser lines and an unlimited number of spectral channels, can potentially image up to 6 commonly used fluorescent proteins from blue to red. Results from in vivo imaging of live zebrafish embryos expressing various genetic markers and sensors will be shown. Hyper-spectral images from λ-SIM light-sheet will allow multiplexed and dynamic functional imaging in live tissue and animals.

Three-dimensional live multi-label light-sheet imaging with synchronous excitation-multiplexed structured illumination

Multiplexed imaging is a powerful tool for studying complex interactions inside biological systems. Spectral imaging methods that capture multiple fluorescent markers synchronously without sacrificing the imaging speed or resolution are most suitable for live imaging. We describe spectral-encoded structured illumination (spectral-SIM) light-sheet microscopy, which enables parallel multi-excitation-channel imaging in 3D. Spectral-SIM encodes the excitation wavelength as the phase of the illumination pattern, and allows synchronous image capture over multiple excitation channels at the same speed and spatial resolution as mono-channel structured light-sheet imaging. The technique retains structured light-sheet microscopys ability in removing out-of-focus and scattered emission background, and generates clear 3D multiplexed images in thick tissue. The capability of this technique was demonstrated by the imaging of live triple-labeled transgenic zebrafish to over 300 μm deep with 0.5μm-by-2μm (lateral-by-axial) resolution.

Cellular resolution multiplexed FLIM tomography with dual-color Bessel beam

Fourier multiplexed FLIM (FmFLIM) tomography enables multiplexed 3D lifetime imaging of whole embryos. In our previous FmFLIM system, the spatial resolution was limited to 25 μm because of the trade-off between the spatial resolution and the imaging depth. In order to achieve cellular resolution imaging of thick specimens, we built a tomography system with dual-color Bessel beam. In combination with FmFLIM, the Bessel FmFLIM tomography system can perform parallel 3D lifetime imaging on multiple excitation-emission channels at a cellular resolution of 2.8 μm. The image capability of the Bessel FmFLIM tomography system was demonstrated by 3D lifetime imaging of dual-labeled transgenic zebrafish embryos.

Bessel beam fluorescence lifetime tomography of live embryos(Conference Presentation)

Optical tomography allows isotropic 3D imaging of embryos. Scanning-laser optical tomography (SLOT) has superior light collecting efficiency than wide-field optical tomography, making it ideal for fluorescence imaging of live embryos. We previously reported an imaging system that combines SLOT with a novel Fourier-multiplexed fluorescence lifetime imaging (FmFLIM) technique named FmFLIM-SLOT. FmFLIM-SLOT performs multiplexed FLIM-FRET readout of multiple FRET sensors in live embryos. Here we report a recent effort on improving the spatial resolution of the FmFLIM-SLOT system in order to image complex biochemical processes in live embryos at the cellular level. Optical tomography has to compromise between resolution and the depth of view. In SLOT, the commonly-used focused Gaussian beam diverges quickly from the focal plane, making it impossible to achieve high resolution imaging in a large volume specimen. We thus introduce Bessel beam laser-scanning tomography, which illuminates the sample with a spatial-light-modulator-generated Bessel beam that has an extended focal depth. The Bessel beam is scanned across the whole specimen. Fluorescence projection images are acquired at equal angular intervals as the sample rotates. Reconstruction artifacts due to annular-rings of the Bessel beam are removed by a modified 3D filtered back projection algorithm. Furthermore, in combination of Fourier-multiplexing fluorescence lifetime imaging (FmFLIM) method, the Bessel FmFLIM-SLOT system is capable of perform 3D lifetime imaging of live embryos at cellular resolution. The system is applied to in-vivo imaging of transgenic Zebrafish embryos. Results prove that Bessel FmFLIM-SLOT is a promising imaging method in development biology research.