Simultaneous visualization of flow fields and oxygen concentrations to unravel transport and metabolic processes in biological systems

• DOI: 10.1016/j.crmeth.2022.100216
• Publication Date: 2022-05-23T14:44:14Z
• Authors: Soeren Ahmerkamp; Farooq Moin Jalal...; Yuan Cui; Douglas R. Brumley; Cesar O. Pacherres; Jasmine S. Berg; Roman Stocker; Marcel M.M. Kuypers; Klaus Koren; Lars Behrendt
• Keywords: LIVE; 0301 basic medicine; 570; FLUXES; imaging; oxygen; flow fields; nutrients; fluxes; corals; particles; aggregates; microfluidics; microfluidics; Oceanografi, hydrologi och vattenresurser; Article; Oceanography, Hydrology and Water Resources; 03 medical and health sciences; nutrients; Animals; Photosynthesis; ROOTS; particles; 0303 health sciences; O-2 DYNAMICS; RHIZOSPHERE; VERSATILE; imaging; Anthozoa; FLUID; fluxes; Oxygen; corals; flow fields; CELLS; PARTICLE IMAGE VELOCIMETRY; aggregates; oxygen; SEDIMENTS

ISSN:2667-2375<br/>From individual cells to whole organisms, O2 transport unfolds across micrometer- to millimeter-length scales and can change within milliseconds in response to fluid flows and organismal behavior. The spatiotemporal complexity of these processes makes the accurate assessment of O2 dynamics via currently available methods difficult or unreliable. Here, we present “sensPIV,” a method to simultaneously measure O2 concentrations and flow fields. By tracking O2-sensitive microparticles in flow using imaging technologies that allow for instantaneous referencing, we measured O2 transport within (1) microfluidic devices, (2) sinking model aggregates, and (3) complex colony-forming corals. Through the use of sensPIV, we find that corals use ciliary movement to link zones of photosynthetic O2 production to zones of O2 consumption. SensPIV can potentially be extendable to study flow-organism interactions across many life-science and engineering applications.<br/>Cell Reports Methods, 2 (5)<br/>