Label-free real-time imaging of myelination in the Xenopus laevis tadpole by in vivo stimulated Raman scattering microscopy.

The myelin sheath plays an important role as the axon in the functioning of the neural system, and myelin degradation is a hallmark pathology of multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury. Electron microscopy, fluorescent microscopy, and magnetic resonance imaging are three major techniques used for myelin visualization. However, microscopic observation of myelin in living organisms remains a challenge. Using a newly developed stimulated Raman scattering microscopy approach, we report noninvasive, label-free, real-time in vivo imaging of myelination by a single-Schwann cell, maturation of a single node of Ranvier, and myelin degradation in the transparent body of the Xenopus laevis tadpole.