Cell Biology JoVE (Open Access) Citable · DOI

Live-cell Imaging of Sensory Organ Precursor Cells in Intact Drosophila Pupae

Name: Live-cell Imaging of Sensory Organ Precursor Cells in Intact Drosophila Pupae
Uploaded: 2026-08-05
Duration: 4 min 27 s
Description: Since the discovery of Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP), there has been a revolutionary change in the use of live-cell imaging as a tool for understanding ...

DOI: 10.3791/2706-v

What you'll learn

✓ Perform pupal dissection and mounting for live-cell imaging
✓ Visualize asymmetrically dividing sensory organ precursor cells in vivo
✓ Capture and interpret live fluorescence images of developing external sensory organs

Protocol

Biopharma Insights In this video, we describe a method for live cell imaging of asymmetrically dividing sensory organ progenitor cells and epidermal cells in intact Drosophila pupae

Difficulty

advanced

Total time

~1–2 hours per pupa (dissection, mounting, and imaging)

Model organism

Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly pupae)

Steps

Dissect Drosophila pupa from pupal case

Carefully remove the intact pupa from its case to prepare for mounting. This step preserves pupa integrity for live-cell imaging.

▶ 01:12

Mount pupa on imaging slide

Position and secure the dissected pupa on a microscope slide with appropriate mounting medium to enable high-resolution live-cell imaging of internal structures.

▶ 02:19

Image sensory organ precursor cells live

Acquire fluorescence images of asymmetrically dividing sensory organ progenitor cells and differentiated external sensory organs in the intact pupa.

▶ 03:14

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