清华大学米达课题组与郭增才课题组的一项最新研究开发出哺乳动物脑发育过程中神经元和免疫细胞动力学的活体观察。2025年12月16日出版的《细胞》发表了这项成果。

研究人员建立了体外固定化胚胎（IMEE）的长期、大视场、深度成像方法，具有视角灵活、操作简单、功能适用性强等优点。通过将IMEE与子宫内眶后注射和矢量场拓扑分析相结合，该课题组人员表征了不同的神经元迁移模式，并阐明了大脑发育过程中生理条件和环境应激下神经元、免疫细胞和脉管系统之间的相互作用。他们的研究结果表明，神经元迁移指导和免疫监视依赖于细胞对当地环境的适应，通过不同的运动模式的躯体或过程。他们的发现为神经细胞在发育过程中的环境适应性提供了重要的见解。

研究人员表示，哺乳动物的大脑包含不同的神经元和免疫细胞类型，表现出动态运动，以响应不同的细胞外环境。然而，由于技术上的限制，很难在体内研究发育中的大脑中复杂的细胞运动。

附：英文原文

Title: Intravital observation of neuronal and immune cell dynamics in the developing mammalian brain

Author: Zhen Long, Yongzhen Yu, Chenyi He, Linhe Xu, Yiming Yan, Zhuoru Li, Zengcai V. Guo, Da Mi

Issue&Volume: 2025-12-16

Abstract: The mammalian brain contains diverse neuronal and immune cell types that exhibit dynamic motions in response to distinct extracellular environments. However, technical limitations make it difficult to investigate complex cellular motions in the developing brain in vivo. Here, we establish the intravital imaging of externally immobilized embryos (IMEE) method for long-term, large-field, and deep-depth imaging of mouse embryos, excelling in viewing angle flexibility, procedural simplicity, and functional applicability. Through combining IMEE with in utero retro-orbital injection and topological analysis of vector fields, we characterize distinct neuronal migration patterns and illustrate interactions among neurons, immune cells, and vasculature under physiological conditions and environmental stress during brain development. Our results suggest that neuronal migration guidance and immune surveillance depend on cellular adaptation to the local environment through distinct motion patterns of somata or processes. Our findings provide critical insight into the environmentally adaptive nature of neural cells in the developmental landscape.

DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.11.017

Source: https://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674(25)01313-3