A strategy for correlative microscopy of large skin samples: towards a holistic view of axillary skin complexity

Knowledge about the structural elements of skin and its appendices is an essential prerequisite for understanding their complex functions and interactions. The hence necessary morphological description across several orders of scale not only requires the investigation at the light microscopic level but also ultrastructural investigation, ideally on the identical sample. For a correlative and multimodal observation one unique preparation protocol is mandatory. As a compromise between sample sizes of >500 microm in diameter on the one hand and optimal preservation of antigenicity and morphology on the other, we developed a new preparation protocol that allows (i) 3D reconstruction of the resin-embedded sample by confocal light microscopy prior to (ii) direct immunolocalization of target proteins within selected sample planes by light and fluorescence microscopy or transmission electron microscopy. Alternatively, (iii) serial cryosections of the frozen sample can be taken for characterizing the sample in toto. With this unique approach we were able to fully demonstrate the structural complexity of axillary skin samples, increasing the structural resolution from 3D reconstruction of the whole gland up to ultrastructural investigations at the subcellular level. We could demonstrate that axillary sweat glands are not separately distributed, as has been assumed to date; instead, they seem to be intricately twisted into one another. This promotes the concept of a complex axillary sweat gland organ instead of single sweat gland entities.