Whole-Kidney Three-Dimensional Staining with CUBIC

J Vis Exp. 2022 Jul 18:(185). doi: 10.3791/63986.

Abstract

Although conventional pathology provided numerous information about kidney microstructure, it was difficult to know the precise structure of blood vessels, proximal tubules, collecting ducts, glomeruli, and sympathetic nerves in the kidney due to the lack of three-dimensional (3D) information. Optical clearing is a good strategy to overcome this big hurdle. Multiple cells in a whole organ can be analyzed at single-cell resolution by combining tissue clearing and 3D imaging technique. However, cell labeling methods for whole-organ imaging remain underdeveloped. In particular, whole-mount organ staining is challenging because of the difficulty in antibody penetration. The present protocol developed a whole-mount mouse kidney staining for 3D imaging with the CUBIC (Clear, Unobstructed Brain/Body Imaging Cocktails and Computational analysis) tissue clearing method. The protocol has enabled visualizing renal sympathetic denervation after ischemia-reperfusion injury and glomerulomegaly in the early stage of diabetic kidney disease from a comprehensive viewpoint. Thus, this technique can lead to new discoveries in kidney research by providing a macroscopic perspective.

Publication types

  • Video-Audio Media

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional / methods
  • Kidney* / diagnostic imaging
  • Mice
  • Reperfusion Injury*
  • Staining and Labeling
  • Sympathetic Nervous System