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Related Experiment Video

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Decellularization of the Murine Cardiopulmonary Complex
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Whole-body imaging with single-cell resolution by tissue decolorization.

Kazuki Tainaka1, Shimpei I Kubota2, Takeru Q Suyama2

  • 1Department of Systems Pharmacology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan; Laboratory for Synthetic Biology, RIKEN Quantitative Biology Center, 2-2-3 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0047, Japan; CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency, 4-1-8 Honcho, Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan.

Cell
|November 24, 2014
PubMed
Summary

A new CUBIC-perfusion protocol uses an aminoalcohol to decolorize blood, enabling whole-body imaging of tissues at single-cell resolution. This breakthrough facilitates organism-level systems biology research.

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Area of Science:

  • Biology
  • Biotechnology
  • Microscopy

Background:

  • Previous tissue clearing methods improved opacity but did not achieve full transparency.
  • Mismatched refractive indices of tissues hindered complete optical clearing.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop a method for achieving whole-body transparency at single-cell resolution.
  • To enable advanced imaging techniques for systems biology.

Main Methods:

  • Developed a CUBIC-perfusion protocol using an aminoalcohol to elute heme from hemoglobin.
  • Applied a 10-day to 2-week clearing protocol to adult mouse organs and entire bodies.
  • Utilized light-sheet fluorescent microscopy for imaging.

Main Results:

  • The CUBIC-perfusion protocol effectively decolorized blood and rendered most organs nearly transparent.
  • Achieved single-cell resolution imaging of entire infant and adult mouse bodies.
  • Demonstrated applicability to 3D pathology, anatomy, and immunohistochemistry.

Conclusions:

  • The CUBIC-perfusion protocol enables rapid, high-resolution whole-body and whole-organ imaging.
  • This technique advances organism-level systems biology by allowing visualization of cellular circuits.
  • The method is versatile for various biological and pathological studies.