New technological approaches for the acquisition, storage and processing of image data of intracellular calcium concentration in astrocytes using Multiphoton microscopy

• Grant number: 23/10362-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: January 15, 2024
• End date: February 04, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology - General Physiology
• Principal Investigator: Daniela Accorsi Mendonça Eichenberger
• Grantee: Daniela Accorsi Mendonça Eichenberger
• Host Investigator: Eiji Shigetomi
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (FMRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University Of Yamanashi, Medical Campus, Japan
• Associated research grant: 18/15957-2 - Astrocytic modulation on brainstem neurons involved with generation and control of sympathetic and respiratory activities in rodents submitted to hypoxia, AP.TEM

Abstract

Astrocytes are the most abundant glial cells in the central nervous system, performing several functions, among them: modulation of synaptic activity, elimination of neurotransmitters, formation/removal of synapses, maintenance of extracellular ion concentration and neurovascular coupling. In recent years, the methodological advancement of functional image analysis techniques in living tissues (Multiphoton Microscopy) has enabled the identification and visualization of cellular mechanisms triggered when astrocytes are activated under physiological or pathological conditions. In this sense, it was characterized that changes in the intracellular concentration of Ca2 + (Ca2 + waves) are among the main signaling mechanisms in astrocytes, is currently used as a "marker" of astrocytic activity. Multiphoton microscopy allows to visualize and quantify changes in Ca2 + concentrations in soma and astrocytic processes (prolongations of astrocytes that involve synapses). The Multiphoton is using for analysis in living tissues up to 1 mm thick. The objective of this visit at Professor Eiji Shigetomi's laboratory - University of Yamanashi (Chuo, Japan) will be the training of the most refined and current technique for data acquisition, processing, and analysis from images of Ca2 + changes in astrocytes, using Multiphoton microscopy. Professor Shigetomi's laboratory is one of the world references in the study of Ca2 + waves in astrocytes and the astrocyte-neuron interaction. Learning these state-of-the-art techniques will be essential for the development of several subprojects contained in the Thematic Project (process 2018 / 15957-2) and for the implementation of the EMU (process 2020 / 00201-0) at FMRP- USP, both approved by FAPESP.