A new perfusion cell chamber system for determination of heat shock effects by means of video-enhanced microscopy.

A user friendly microscope perfusion chamber which allows real-time observation of individual cells at high magnification has been designed. An integrated multisensor was used to monitor the cell culture conditions. To prove the potential of the system heat shock experiments were performed. By means of video-enhanced contrast microscopy (VECM) the mitochondria morphology of cultured astrocytes was demonstrated to change from a rod-like to an annular shape after heat shock. For further analyses mitochondria were stained on the microscope stage.