Multimodal CARS and SHG microscopy for label-free detection of collagen produced by hDFs in fibrin gel

TL;DR

This study demonstrates the use of combined CARS and SHG microscopy for label-free, real-time detection of collagen produced by human dermal fibroblasts in fibrin gel, enabling detailed monitoring of tissue regeneration processes.

Contribution

It introduces a multimodal microscopy approach for detecting and tracking collagen production in tissue scaffolds without labels, with a focus on sensitivity and co-localization over time.

Findings

Small collagen amounts detected after hours of incubation

Co-localization of hDFs and collagen observed over culture days

System detects collagen at low concentrations

Abstract

Label-free combined CARS and SHG microscopy techniques are used as powerful tool to follow the cells behavior in cell-scaffold construct for regeneration of tissues. Imaging of histological section of hDFs seeded in fibrin gel scaffold and imaging of collagen produced by hDFs in a time course experiment at different culture days (0, 7, 21, 42) is performed. A study on the limit of collagen detection of the imaging system is reported using sample prepared with different collagen concentrations. The results show that also the small amount of collagen produced by hDFs after few hours of incubation in fibrin gel is detected. Co-localization of hDFs and collagen is also reported in function of the culture days.