UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

An Immobilization Technique for Long-Term Time-Lapse Imaging of Explanted Drosophila Tissues

Bostock, MP; Prasad, AR; Chaouni, R; Yuen, AC; Sousa-Nunes, R; Amoyel, M; Fernandes, VM; (2020) An Immobilization Technique for Long-Term Time-Lapse Imaging of Explanted Drosophila Tissues. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology , 8 , Article 590094. 10.3389/fcell.2020.590094. Green open access

[thumbnail of fcell-08-590094.pdf]
Preview
Text
fcell-08-590094.pdf - Published Version

Download (5MB) | Preview

Abstract

Time-lapse imaging is an essential tool to study dynamic biological processes that cannot be discerned from fixed samples alone. However, imaging cell- and tissue-level processes in intact animals poses numerous challenges if the organism is opaque and/or motile. Explant cultures of intact tissues circumvent some of these challenges, but sample drift remains a considerable obstacle. We employed a simple yet effective technique to immobilize tissues in medium-bathed agarose. We applied this technique to study multiple Drosophila tissues from first-instar larvae to adult stages in various orientations and with no evidence of anisotropic pressure or stress damage. Using this method, we were able to image fine features for up to 18 h and make novel observations. Specifically, we report that fibers characteristic of quiescent neuroblasts are inherited by their basal daughters during reactivation; that the lamina in the developing visual system is assembled roughly 2–3 columns at a time; that lamina glia positions are dynamic during development; and that the nuclear envelopes of adult testis cyst stem cells do not break down completely during mitosis. In all, we demonstrate that our protocol is well-suited for tissue immobilization and long-term live imaging, enabling new insights into tissue and cell dynamics in Drosophila.

Type: Article
Title: An Immobilization Technique for Long-Term Time-Lapse Imaging of Explanted Drosophila Tissues
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2020.590094
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2020.590094
Language: English
Additional information: © 2020 Bostock, Prasad, Chaouni, Yuen, Sousa-Nunes, Amoyel and Fernandes. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).
Keywords: Drosophila, live imaging, neuroblasts, adult stem cells, cell migration, cell proliferation, optic lobe, explant culturing
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Cell and Developmental Biology
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10112152
Downloads since deposit
94Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item