Two-photon excited endogenous fluorescence for label-free in vivo imaging ingestion of disease-causing bacteria by human leukocytes

Real time and in vivo monitoring leukocyte behavior provides unique information to understand the physiological and pathological process of infection. In this study, we demonstrate that two-photon excited reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) fluorescence provides imaging contrast to distinguish granulocyte and agranulocyte. By using spectral and time-resolved NADH fluorescence, we study the immune response of human neutrophils against bacterial infection (Escherichia coli). The two-photon excited NADH fluorescence images clearly review the morphological changes from resting neutrophils (round shape) to activated neutrophils (ruffle shape) during phagocytosis. The free-tobound NADH ratio of neutrophils decreases after ingesting disease-causing pathogen: Escherichia coli. This finding may provide a new optical tool to investigate inflammatory processes by using NADH fluorescence in vivo. © 2013 SPIE