Three-Dimensional Imaging of Organoids to Study Primary Ciliogenesis During ex vivo Organogenesis

Organoids are stem cell-derived three-dimensional structures that reproduce ex vivo the complex architecture and physiology of organs. Thus, organoids represent useful models to study the mechanisms that control stem cell self-renewal and differentiation in mammals, including primary ciliogenesis and ciliary signaling. Primary ciliogenesis is the dynamic process of assembling the primary cilium, a key cell signaling center that controls stem cell self-renewal and/or differentiation in various tissues. Here we present a comprehensive protocol for the immunofluorescence staining of cell lineage and primary cilia markers, in whole-mount mouse mammary organoids, for light sheet microscopy. We describe the microscopy imaging method and an image processing technique for the quantitative analysis of primary cilium assembly and length in organoids. This protocol enables a precise analysis of primary cilia in complex three-dimensional structures at the single cell level. This method is applicable for immunofluorescence staining and imaging of primary cilia and ciliary signaling in mammary organoids derived from normal and genetically modified stem cells, from healthy and pathological tissues, to study the biology of the primary cilium in health and disease.