Quantitative in situ fluorescence imaging to unveil the morphological and functional heterogeneity of osteocytes

BackgroundWith colorful and high-contrast images, fluorescence imaging has long been a powerful tool used to confirm existing hypotheses or ideas suggested by other experimental approaches.HighlightSince data acquired by fluorescence imaging contain numerical values for spatio-temporal information as well as fluorescence intensities, quantitative fluorescence imaging is considered a robust tool that can provide novel insights by combining spatio-temporal information and quantitative analysis.ConclusionThis short review presents the applications of quantitative fluorescence imaging in histological bone sections and its contribution to osteocyte biology. In osteocyte biology, fluorescence imaging has provided novel evidence on osteocytes being a heterogenic population both morphologically and functionally. Current direction and future applications of quantitative fluorescence imaging are also discussed in this review.