Brillouin microspectroscopy assessment of tissue differentiation during embryonic development

Changes in mechanical properties represent one of the driving factors behind cell differentiation during embryonic development. However, measuring these changes without disrupting the normal progression of morphogenesis or destroying the developing organism is not trivial. Brillouin microspectroscopy has been shown to be capable of nocontact, non-destructive and non-disruptive assessment of elastic properties in developing zebrafish embryos. The present study builds upon the previous work, and observes the changes in elasticity during the development of heart and brain in zebrafish embryos from 8 to 28 hpf (hours post-fertilization) at regular intervals. Brillouin microspectroscopy has proved to be a suitable technique to continuously monitor tissue differentiation and the development of individual organs with high spatial resolution without harming the developing organism.