Visualization of Epidermis and Dermal Cells in ex vivo Human Skin Using the Confocal and Two-photon Microscopy

The confocal laser scanning microscopy and two-photon microscopy was implemented based on a single laser source and an objective lens. We imaged and compared the morphology of identical sites of ex vivo human skin using both microscopes. The back-scattering emission from the sample provided the contrast for the confocal microscopy. The intrinsic autofluorescence and the second harmonic generation were used as the luminescence source for the two-photon microscopy. The wavelength of the Ti:Sapphire laser was tuned at 710 nm, which corresponds to the excitation peak of NADH and FAD in skin tissue. The various cell layers in the epidermis and the papillary dermis were clearly distinguished by both imaging modalities. The two-photon microscopy more clearly visualized the intercellular region and the nucleus of the cell compared to the confocal microscopy. The fibrous structures in the dermis were more clearly resolved by the confocal microscopy. Numerous cells in papillary dermal layer, as deep as 100 mu m, were observed in both CLSM and two-photon microscopy. While most previous studies focused on fibrous structure imaging (collagen and elastin fiber) in the dermis, we demonstrated that the combined imaging with the CLSM and two-photon microscopy can be applied for the non-invasive study of the population, distribution and metabolism of papillary dermal cells in skin.