Deep down view

Related Articles Tips for choosing a microscope setup Going Live How it Works: Two-Photon Microscopy Pooling resources Prioritizing speed Mix and match Sticking to the surface User: Pascal Steiner, a postdoc in the lab of Harvard University neuroscientist Bernardo Sabatini. Project: Imaging changes in spine morphology over time at the neuronal synapse. Problem: Steiner images in 400-µm hippocampal slices in order to capture the 3D branching complexity of

| 2 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
2:00
Share

User: Pascal Steiner, a postdoc in the lab of Harvard University neuroscientist Bernardo Sabatini.

Project: Imaging changes in spine morphology over time at the neuronal synapse.

Problem: Steiner images in 400-µm hippocampal slices in order to capture the 3D branching complexity of neurons. Imaging at the synapse also requires superior spatial resolution.

Solution: Two-photon imaging is the only technique that can penetrate the tissue beyond about 100 µm. However, spatial resolution is noticeably lower than with confocal techniques. "When I image," says Steiner, "what I see is the [dendritic] spines, and I assume there is a synapse." (In hippocampus, excitatory synapses are on the spines and inhibitory synapses are on the shaft of the dendrites.) But researchers studying new synapse formation must confirm the presence of a synapse with physiology or electron microscopy.

While most confocal microscopes use one or many pinholes to scatter unfocused light from the sample, two-photon ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

  • Alla Katsnelson

    This person does not yet have a bio.

Published In

Share
3D illustration of a gold lipid nanoparticle with pink nucleic acid inside of it. Purple and teal spikes stick out from the lipid bilayer representing polyethylene glycol.
February 2025, Issue 1

A Nanoparticle Delivery System for Gene Therapy

A reimagined lipid vehicle for nucleic acids could overcome the limitations of current vectors.

View this Issue
Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Lonza
An illustration of animal and tree silhouettes.

From Water Bears to Grizzly Bears: Unusual Animal Models

Taconic Biosciences
Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

bit.bio logo
New Frontiers in Vaccine Development

New Frontiers in Vaccine Development

Sino

Products

Tecan Logo

Tecan introduces Veya: bringing digital, scalable automation to labs worldwide

Explore a Concise Guide to Optimizing Viral Transduction

A Visual Guide to Lentiviral Gene Delivery

Takara Bio
Inventia Life Science

Inventia Life Science Launches RASTRUM™ Allegro to Revolutionize High-Throughput 3D Cell Culture for Drug Discovery and Disease Research

An illustration of differently shaped viruses.

Detecting Novel Viruses Using a Comprehensive Enrichment Panel

Twist Bio