Affordable microscopy of spheroid oxygenation (video protocol)

Our lab has published a new protocol paper, this time with the video, in the Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE)!

In this research method paper, we report the use of red/ near-infrared emitting biocompatible nanosensors to monitor oxygenation of the live multicellular spheroids (made of one or more cell types), together with the tracers of cell death. While this methodology is typically available only for users with 'high-end' PLIM microscopes and alike, we show that using of ratiometric readout with the red and near infrared emitting fluorescent nanosensors makes this possible on broadly available 'widefield' fluorescence microscope platforms. This method helps comparing oxygenation of spheroids, assessing this in a long-term and kinetic assays, comparing their variability and viability, essential in follow-up 3D printing applications.

This is the first article in our collection 'Quantitative live cell imaging of 3D models', guest-edited together with Prof. M. Barroso.

More about this collection here

Link to the article here

More about O2-sensing methodology and related nano- and chemical probes for O2 can be found in our most recent review article.