3D imaging of human organs with micrometer resolution - applied to the endocrine pancreas

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Abstract

The possibility to quantitatively study specific molecular/cellular features of complete human organs with preserved spatial 3D context would have widespread implications for pre-clinical and clinical medicine. Whereas optical 3D imaging approaches have experienced a formidable revolution, they have remained limited due to current incapacities in obtaining specific labelling within large tissue volumes. We present a simple approach enabling reconstruction of antibody labeled cells within entire human organs with preserved organ context. We demonstrate the utility of the approach by providing volumetric data and 3D distribution of hundreds of thousands of islets of Langerhans within the human pancreas. By assessments of pancreata from non-diabetic and type 2 diabetic individuals, we display previously unrecognized features of the human islet mass distribution and pathology. As such, this method may contribute not only in unraveling new information of the pancreatic anatomy/pathophysiology, but it may be translated to essentially any antibody marker or organ system.

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Reconstruction of zebrafish early embryonic development by scanned light sheet microscopy.

Philipp Keller, Annette Schmidt, Joachim Wittbrodt … (2008)

A long-standing goal of biology is to map the behavior of all cells during vertebrate embryogenesis. We developed digital scanned laser light sheet fluorescence microscopy and recorded nuclei localization and movement in entire wild-type and mutant zebrafish embryos over the first 24 hours of development. Multiview in vivo imaging at 1.5 billion voxels per minute provides "digital embryos," that is, comprehensive databases of cell positions, divisions, and migratory tracks. Our analysis of global cell division patterns reveals a maternally defined initial morphodynamic symmetry break, which identifies the embryonic body axis. We further derive a model of germ layer formation and show that the mesendoderm forms from one-third of the embryo's cells in a single event. Our digital embryos, with 55 million nucleus entries, are provided as a resource.

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Optical sectioning deep inside live embryos by selective plane illumination microscopy.

Jan Huisken, Jim Swoger, Filippo Del Bene … (2004)

Large, living biological specimens present challenges to existing optical imaging techniques because of their absorptive and scattering properties. We developed selective plane illumination microscopy (SPIM) to generate multidimensional images of samples up to a few millimeters in size. The system combines two-dimensional illumination with orthogonal camera-based detection to achieve high-resolution, optically sectioned imaging throughout the sample, with minimal photodamage and at speeds capable of capturing transient biological phenomena. We used SPIM to visualize all muscles in vivo in the transgenic Medaka line Arnie, which expresses green fluorescent protein in muscle tissue. We also demonstrate that SPIM can be applied to visualize the embryogenesis of the relatively opaque Drosophila melanogaster in vivo.

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Cell and tissue autofluorescence research and diagnostic applications.

Monica Monici (2005)

Cells contain molecules, which become fluorescent when excited by UV/Vis radiation of suitable wavelength. This fluorescence emission, arising from endogenous fluorophores, is an intrinsic property of cells and is called auto-fluorescence to be distinguished from fluorescent signals obtained by adding exogenous markers. The majority of cell auto-fluorescence originates from mitochondria and lysosomes. Together with aromatic amino acids and lipo-pigments, the most important endogenous fluorophores are pyridinic (NADPH) and flavin coenzymes. In tissues, the extracellular matrix often contributes to the auto-fluorescence emission more than the cellular component, because collagen and elastin have, among the endogenous fluorophores, a relatively high quantum yield. Changes occurring in the cell and tissue state during physiological and/or pathological processes result in modifications of the amount and distribution of endogenous fluorophores and chemical-physical properties of their microenvironment. Therefore, analytical techniques based on auto-fluorescence monitoring can be utilized in order to obtain information about morphological and physiological state of cells and tissues. Moreover, auto-fluorescence analysis can be performed in real time because it does not require any treatment of fixing or staining of the specimens. In the past few years spectroscopic and imaging techniques have been developed for many different applications both in basic research and diagnostics.