Plastic embedding immunolabeled large-volume samples for three-dimensional high-resolution imaging

Biomed Opt Express. 2017 Jul 10;8(8):3583-3596. doi: 10.1364/BOE.8.003583. eCollection 2017 Aug 1.

Abstract

High-resolution three-dimensional biomolecule distribution information of large samples is essential to understanding their biological structure and function. Here, we proposed a method combining large sample resin embedding with iDISCO immunofluorescence staining to acquire the profile of biomolecules with high spatial resolution. We evaluated the compatibility of plastic embedding with an iDISCO staining technique and found that the fluorophores and the neuronal fine structures could be well preserved in the Lowicryl HM20 resin, and that numerous antibodies and fluorescent tracers worked well upon Lowicryl HM20 resin embedding. Further, using fluorescence Micro-Optical sectioning tomography (fMOST) technology combined with ultra-thin slicing and imaging, we were able to image the immunolabeled large-volume tissues with high resolution.

Keywords: (160.2540) Fluorescent and luminescent materials; (170.3880) Medical and biological imaging; (180.2520) Fluorescence microscopy.