Intravital imaging: dynamic insights into liver immunity in health and disease

Abstract

Inflammation is a critical component of most acute and chronic liver diseases. The liver is a unique immunological organ with a dense vascular network, leading to intense crosstalk between tissue-resident immune cells, passenger leucocytes and parenchymal cells. During acute and chronic liver diseases, the multifaceted immune response is involved in disease promoting and repair mechanisms, while upholding core liver immune functions. In recent years, single-cell technologies have unravelled a previously unknown heterogeneity of immune cells, reshaping the complexity of the hepatic immune response. However, inflammation is a dynamic biological process, encompassing various immune cells, orchestrated in temporal and spatial dimensions, and driven by multiorgan signals. Intravital microscopy (IVM) has emerged as a powerful tool to investigate immunity by visualising the dynamic interplay between different immune cells and their surroundings within a near-natural environment. In this review, we summarise the experimental considerations to perform IVM and highlight recent technological developments. Furthermore, we outline the unique contributions of IVM to our understanding of liver immunity. Through the lens of liver disease, we discuss novel immune-mediated disease mechanisms uncovered by imaging-based studies.