Beyond Molecular Targets: Visualizing Pharmacological Actions in Living Tissues

Over the past decade, intravital optical microscopy has opened a new frontier in biological and biomedical research by enabling direct visualization of living cells and their dynamic behaviors within intact tissues and organs. Using advanced intravital imaging techniques, particularly multiphoton excitation microscopy, we have established novel platforms to investigate the spatiotemporal dynamics of immune cells under physiological and pathological conditions. We have successfully visualized diverse cellular events in the bone, joints, lungs, liver, and other organs, revealing previously unrecognized aspects of immune cell behavior, cellular interactions, and tissue microenvironments that could not be fully appreciated through conventional histological analyses. Importantly, intravital imaging also provides a unique opportunity to understand pharmacological actions in their physiological context. Conventional pharmacological studies have largely focused on molecular targets and intracellular signaling pathways. However, therapeutic effects ultimately emerge from complex interactions among multiple cell populations within living tissues. Intravital imaging allows us to directly observe how pharmacological interventions modify immune cell dynamics and tissue responses in vivo. For example, our recent studies have demonstrated the bone-protective effects of several biological agents used for treating autoimmune diseases by directly visualizing drug-induced changes in osteoclast behavior and function within living bone tissues. Thus, intravital imaging offers a new perspective in immunopharmacology by bridging molecular mechanisms of drug action with their functional consequences in vivo, potentially contributing to the development of more effective and precisely targeted immunotherapies.

Speaker: Prof. Masaru Ishii (Dean, Graduate School of Medicine, Professor and Chairman, Department of Immunology and Cell Biology The University of Osaka, Japan)

Host: Dr. Lie-Fen Shyur

Time:2026/12/18 11:00 AM

Location:Auditorium A134, Agricultural Technology Building