Estimation of the effective orientation of the SHG source in primary cortical neurons

Abstract

In this paper we provide, for the first time to our knowledge, the effective orientation of the SHG source in cultured cortical neuronal processes in vitro. This is done by the use of the polarization sensitive second harmonic generation (PSHG) imaging microscopy technique. By performing a pixel-level resolution analysis we found that the SHG dipole source has a distribution of angles centered at θe =33.96°, with a bandwidth of ∆θe = 12.85°. This orientation can be related with the molecular geometry of the tubulin heterodimmer contained in microtubules. ; This work is supported by the Generalitat de Catalunya and by the Spanish government grant TEC2006-12654. Authors also acknowledge The Centre for Innovacio i Desenvolupament Empresarial - CIDEM (RDITSCON07-1-0006), Grupo Ferrer and the European Regional Development Fund. This research has been partially supported by Fundació Cellex Barcelona. ; Peer reviewed