Intravital imaging of Drosophila airways by two-photon microscopy using GFP and autofluorescence

Remodeling of airways is a major characteristic of chronic asthma. Drosophila melanogaster is an ideal model to specifically study epithelial remodeling due to easy genetic modification and lack of an adaptive immune system. To understand the spatiotemporal order of cellular events of remodeling without missing important transition states requires noninvasive continuous imaging of the airways in living animals over longer periods of time. Two-photon microscopy was used to image the airways of Drosophila larvae. Animals with genetic modifications specifically in their airway epithelia, which can be controlled by…