Fluorescence imaging of osteoclasts using confocal microscopy

In order to understand osteoclast cell biology, it is necessary to culture these cells on a physiological -substrate that they can resorb in vitro, such as bone or dentine. However, this creates problems for analysis by fluorescence microscopy, due to the depth of the sample under investigation. By virtue of its optical sectioning capabilities, confocal microscopy is ideal for analysis of such samples, enabling precise intracellular localisation of proteins in resorbing osteoclasts to be determined. Moreover, by taking a series of images in the axial dimension, it is possible to create axial section views and to reconstruct 3D images of the osteoclasts, enabling the spatial organisation of the structures of interest to be more easily discerned.