From Event: SPIE BiOS, 2023
Motile cilia are hair-like microtubule-based organelles covering epithelial surfaces of multiple organ systems, including lungs, airways, kidneys, and fallopian tubes. Genetic alterations affecting cilia structure and motility are associated with ciliopathies affecting the physiology of multiple organs, including reduced fertility and a higher incidence of ectopic pregnancies. Motile cilia beat periodically to propel fluids, mucus, and cells along the epithelial surfaces. The ciliary beating is coordinated between neighboring cells. Due to a phase shift, the beat of cilia forms a wave propagating along the surface, which is called the metachronal wave. While the clinical importance of cilia and their coordinated function is well recognized, this function is very poorly studied due to the lack of cilia imaging methods. Previously, we established a functional OCT method for mapping cilia and cilia beat frequency within the mouse fallopian tube in vivo, volumetrically, through the tissue layers. That method was based on the analysis of periodic OCT intensity fluctuations in pixels corresponding to cilia. Building on that method, here we present the visualization and quantification of cilia metachronal wave, by spatio-temporal analysis of ciliary beat phase propagation. This study presented the first quantitative approach for measuring cilia metachronal waves through tissue layers. This method gives unique access to cilia function in the mammalian fallopian tube in vivo, as demonstrated here. It can also be directly adapted to investigating coordinated cilia behaviors in multiple organ systems toward better-managing pathologies associated with ciliopathies.
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Tian Xia, Shang Wang, and Irina V. Larina, "In vivo dynamic quantitative imaging of cilia metachronal wave in mouse fallopian tube with optical coherence tomography," Proc. SPIE 12378, Dynamics and Fluctuations in Biomedical Photonics XX, 1237802 (Presented at SPIE BiOS: January 29, 2023; Published: 7 March 2023); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2656886.