Multiscale, multimodal, and multidimensional microscopy of cardiac development

In vivo fluorescence imaging of the embryonic zebrafish heart as it develops and gains function has recently become possible thanks to several breakthroughs in fast microscopy. However, because of the motion of the fast beating heart, volumetric, long term, continuous, and simultaneous characterization of subtle changes in heart morphology at the organ, tissue and cellular level, changes in heart function, or changes in local gene expression all remain major challenges. We have developed tools that aim at addressing the problem of capturing and integrating multi-modal data at different temporal and spatial scales to build a multi-dimensional model of the beating and developing heart. This paper gives an overview of techniques we developed and integrated to follow heart development, spatiotemporally confined hemodynamics, and gene expression. These tools permit quantitative characterization and will allow studying the interactions between genetic and epigenetic factors that affect cardiac development.