Frank Dubois, Catherine Yourassowsky, Olivier Monnom, J.-C. Legros, Olivier Debeir IV, Philippe Van Ham, Robert Kiss, Christine Decaestecker
Journal of Biomedical Optics, Vol. 11, Issue 05, 054032, (September 2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/1.2357174
TOPICS: Digital holography, Holography, Microscopy, Microscopes, In vitro testing, Cancer, Collagen, Systems modeling, Optical signal processing, 3D acquisition
Cancer cell motility and invasion are critical targets for anticancer therapeutics. Whereas in vitro models could be designed for rapid screening with a view to investigate these targets, careful consideration must be given to the construction of appropriate model systems. Most investigations focus on two-dimensional (2-D) assays despite the fact that increasing evidence suggests that migration across rigid and planar substrates fails to recapitulate in vivo behavior. In contrast, few systems enable three-dimensional (3-D) cell migration to be quantitatively analyzed. We previously developed a digital holographic microscope (DHM) working in transmission with a partially spatial coherence source. This configuration avoids the noise artifacts of laser illumination and makes possible the direct recording of information on the 3-D structure of samples consisting of multiple objects embedded in scattering media, such as cell cultures in matrix gels. The software driving our DHM system is equipped with a time-lapse ability that enables the 3-D trajectories of living cells to be reconstituted and quantitatively analyzed.