The US-based Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has released two new, freely accessible protocols to help scientists understand the movement and growth of cells.

The current issue of Cold Spring Harbor Protocols has released one protocol for inserting reporter proteins into cells to monitor what's going on inside; and another for maintaining the cells under a microscope for long-term observation.

The first protocol details a procedure to inject proteins into individual cells. The injected protein can be fluorescently labelled, so scientists can track the glowing protein with a microscope and observe what it's doing and where it's going inside the cell.

This microinjection technique is similar to those that are used to create cloned and transgenic organisms and it can also be applied to more complex assays - including laser photobleaching and fluorescent speckle microscopy - that yield specific insights into cellular processes.

The second protocol outlines the construction and use of an enclosed microscope chamber. This device is designed to optimise the culture environment for cells, allowing them to grow as they would normally, while optimising the conditions for viewing them by microscopy.

This enables researchers to monitor the cells under a microscope for long time periods (in excess of four days), during which the cells may divide multiple times and cycle through nearly all cellular functions. When coupled with the latest in image-analysis software, this technique allows researchers to gain a long-term perspective on events in the lives of cells.

The protocols are available at www.cshprotocols.org