Uterine cervical remodeling is a fundamental feature of pregnancy, facilitating the delivery of the fetus through the cervical canal. Yet, we still know very little about this process due to the lack of methodologies that can quantitatively and unequivocally pinpoint the changes the cervix undergoes during pregnancy. We utilize polarization-resolved second harmonic generation to visualize the alterations the cervix extracellular matrix, specifically collagen, undergoes during pregnancy with exquisite resolution.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe human cornea is mainly composed of collagen fibrils aligned together within stacked lamellae. This lamellar structure can be affected in pathologies such as keratoconus, which is characterized by progressive corneal thinning and local steepening. In this study, we use polarization-resolved second harmonic generation (P-SHG) microscopy to characterize 8 control and 6 keratoconic human corneas.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSmooth muscle cells (SMCs) are critical players in cardiovascular disease development and undergo complex phenotype switching during disease progression. However, SMC phenotype is difficult to assess and track in co-culture studies. To determine the contractility of SMCs embedded within collagen hydrogels, we performed polarized light imaging and subsequent analysis based on Mueller matrices.
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