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Updated: Jun 30, 2025
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Nanoscopic Imaging of Human Tissue Sections via Physical and Isotropic Expansion
Published on: September 25, 2019
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Dense, Continuous Membrane Labeling and Expansion Microscopy Visualization of Ultrastructure in Tissues
Tay Won Shin1,2,3, Hao Wang1,4, Chi Zhang1
1McGovern Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139.
Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology
|March 18, 2024
Summary
Ultrastructural membrane expansion microscopy (umEXM) enables high-density fluorescent labeling of lipid membranes in intact tissues. This technique achieves nanoscale visualization of membranes and proteins, crucial for understanding cellular structures.
Area of Science:
- Cell Biology
- Microscopy Techniques
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Lipid membranes are essential for cellular compartmentalization.
- Visualizing membranes at the nanoscale in intact tissues with high density is challenging.
- Existing methods lack the resolution and labeling density required for detailed membrane studies.
Conclusions:
- umEXM provides nanoscale visualization of lipid membranes in intact tissues with high labeling density.
- The technique enables detailed imaging of cellular structures, including neuronal processes.
- umEXM offers a pathway towards achieving electron microscopy resolution with light microscopy.
