<p>Maps of biological tissues at subcellular detail are key for understanding how organs function. X-ray nanotomography is a promising alternative to volume electron microscopy: it has the potential to nondestructively image millimeter-sized samples at ultrastructural resolution within a few days. A fundamental barrier is that the intense X-rays required for imaging also deform and disintegrate the tissue samples. Here we show a combination of solutions that overcome this barrier: We used a cryogenic and stable sample stage, tailored nonrigid tomographic reconstruction algorithms and an epoxy resin developed for the nuclear and aerospace industry. Tissue samples were resistant to radiation doses exceeding 1.15 × 10<sup>10</sup> Gy, and sub-40 nm isotropic resolution allowed identifying axon bundles, dendrites and synapses in mouse brain tissue without physical sectioning. Using volume electron microscopy, we demonstrate that tissue ultrastructure remains intact after X-ray imaging. Together, this unlocks the potential of X-ray tomography for high-resolution tissue imaging.</p>

错误:搜索内容不能为空,请输入英文关键词
错误:关键词超出字数限制,请精简
高级检索

Nondestructive X-ray tomography of brain tissue ultrastructure

  • Carles Bosch,
  • Tomas Aidukas,
  • Mirko Holler,
  • Alexandra Pacureanu,
  • Elisabeth Müller,
  • Christopher J. Peddie,
  • Yuxin Zhang,
  • Phil Cook,
  • Lucy Collinson,
  • Oliver Bunk,
  • Andreas Menzel,
  • Manuel Guizar-Sicairos,
  • Gabriel Aeppli,
  • Ana Diaz,
  • Adrian A. Wanner,
  • Andreas T. Schaefer

摘要

Maps of biological tissues at subcellular detail are key for understanding how organs function. X-ray nanotomography is a promising alternative to volume electron microscopy: it has the potential to nondestructively image millimeter-sized samples at ultrastructural resolution within a few days. A fundamental barrier is that the intense X-rays required for imaging also deform and disintegrate the tissue samples. Here we show a combination of solutions that overcome this barrier: We used a cryogenic and stable sample stage, tailored nonrigid tomographic reconstruction algorithms and an epoxy resin developed for the nuclear and aerospace industry. Tissue samples were resistant to radiation doses exceeding 1.15 × 1010 Gy, and sub-40 nm isotropic resolution allowed identifying axon bundles, dendrites and synapses in mouse brain tissue without physical sectioning. Using volume electron microscopy, we demonstrate that tissue ultrastructure remains intact after X-ray imaging. Together, this unlocks the potential of X-ray tomography for high-resolution tissue imaging.