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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Neuroanat.
Volume 18 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnana.2024.1507140

Minimal Differences Observed when Comparing the Morphological Profiling of Microglia Obtained by Confocal Laser Scanning and Optical Sectioning Microscopy

Provisionally accepted
Sânziana Godeanu Sânziana Godeanu 1,2Madalina Iuliana Musat Madalina Iuliana Musat 1Anja Scheller Anja Scheller 2,3Eugen Osiac Eugen Osiac 4*Bogdan Catalin Bogdan Catalin 1*
  • 1 Experimental Research Centre for Normal and Pathological Aging, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Craiova, Romania
  • 2 Center for Integrative Physiology and Molecular Medicine (CIPMM), Homburg, Germany
  • 3 Center for Gender-specific Biology and Medicine (CGBM), University of Saarland, 66421, Homburg, Germany
  • 4 Department of Biophysics, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Craiova, Romania, Craiova, Romania

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: While widefield microscopytraditional fluorescence microscopy has long been constrained by out-of-focus scattering, advancements ecent advances have generated a solution in the form of confocal laser scanning microscopy (cLSM) and optical sectioning microscopy using structured illumination (OSM). In this study, we aim to investigate, using microglia branching, if cLSM and OSM can produce images with comparable morphological characteristics. Results: By imaging the somatosensory microglia from a tissue slice of a 3-week-old mouse and establishing morphological parameters that characterizes the microglial branching pattern, we were able to show that there is no difference in total length of the branch tree, number of branches, mean branch length and number of primary to terminal branches. We did find that area-based parameters such as mean occupied area and mean surveillance area were bigger in cLSM isolated microglia compared to OSM ones. Additionally, by investigating the difference in acquisition time between techniques and personal costs we were able to establish that the amortization could be made in 6.11±2.93 years in the case of countries with a Human Development Index (HDI)=7-9 and 7.06±3.13 years, respectably, for countries with HDI<7. As such, OSM systems seem a valid option if one just wants basic histological evaluation, and cLSM should be considered for groups that demand higher resolution or volumetric images.

    Keywords: Microglia, Cortex, morphology, optical sectioning microscope, confocal laser scanning microscopy

    Received: 07 Oct 2024; Accepted: 12 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Godeanu, Musat, Scheller, Osiac and Catalin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Eugen Osiac, Department of Biophysics, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Craiova, Romania, Craiova, Romania
    Bogdan Catalin, Experimental Research Centre for Normal and Pathological Aging, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Craiova, Romania

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.