Bertrand Vernay
University College London, UK

https://doi.org/10.36866/pn.95.20

7 April 2014
University College London, UK

Imaging large samples at high resolution is a common problem in life science. To this effect multiphoton microscopy has been successfully used up to 1 mm of imaging depth but is then limited to genetically encoded fluorescent proteins as antibodies cannot penetrate deep enough into the samples. The recently published CLARITY protocol (Chung et al. 2013) from the Deisseroth research team in Stanford now enable biologists to image several mm into the sample at high resolution. Samples are rendered optically transparent and macromolecule permeable by removing the lipids impeding both light and antibody penetration into the samples, but otherwise maintaining the tissue organisation with a nanoporous hydrogel.

The first London CLARITY Users’ meeting was held at the UCL Institute of Child Health in April. The meeting attracted attendees from London, Cambridge, Oxford and further afield in Europe (Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Spain). It was a unique opportunity for researchers to exchange their experiences of the CLARITY protocol in a friendly and informal atmosphere. A year after the initial publication, the enthusiasm for this promising new method was reinforced by several speakers presenting preliminary results obtained with the CLARITY protocol.

More information is available at: http://clarityresourcecenter.org

References

Chung K, Wallace J, Kim SY, Kalyanasundaram S, Andalman AS, Davidson TJ, Mirzabekov JJ, Zalocusky KA, Mattis J, Denisin AJ, Pak S, Bernstein H, Ramakrishnan C, Grosenick L, Gradinaru V & Deisseroth K (2013). Structural and molecular interrogation of intact biological systems. Nature 497, 332–337.