Stabilized Longitudinal In Vivo Cellular-Level Visualization of the Pancreas in a Murine Model with a Pancreatic Intravital Imaging Window

Direct in vivo cellular-resolution imaging of the pancreas in a live small animal model has been technically challenging. A recent intravital imaging study, with an abdominal imaging window, enabled visualization of the cellular dynamics in abdominal organs in vivo. However, due to the soft sheet-like architecture of the mouse pancreas that can be easily influenced by physiologic movement (e.g., peristalsis and respiration), it was difficult to perform stabilized longitudinal in vivo imaging over several weeks at the cellular level to identify, track, and quantify islets or cancer cells in the mouse pancreas. Herein, we describe a method for implanting a novel supporting base, an integrated pancreatic intravital imaging window, that can spatially separate the pancreas from the bowel for longitudinal time-lapse intravital imaging of the pancreas microstructure. Longitudinal in vivo imaging with the imaging window enables stable visualization, allowing for the tracking of islets over a period of 3 weeks and high-resolution three-dimensional imaging of the microstructure, as evidenced here in an orthotopic pancreatic cancer model. With our method, further intravital imaging studies can elucidate the pathophysiology of various diseases involving the pancreas at the cellular level.