Expansion Pathology: A Method for High-resolution Optical Imaging of Clinical Tissue Samples
Published: April 30, 2023
Abstract
Source: Klimas, A. et al. Nanoscopic Imaging of Human Tissue Sections via Physical and Isotropic Expansion. J. Vis. Exp. (2019)
In this video, we describe a method called expansion pathology, a variant of expansion microscopy, wherein the clinical tissue specimens are chemically expanded using a polymer network for microscopic examination of nanoscale structures.
Protocol
1. In Situ Polymerization of Specimens Incubate the specimen in an anchoring solution. Prepare the anchoring solution (typically 250 µL is enough to cover the tissue section) by diluting the AcX stock solution in 1x PBS to a concentration of 0.03 mg/mL for samples fixed with non-aldehyde fixatives or 0.1 mg/mL for samples fixed with aldehyde fixatives, which have fewer free amines available to react with AcX. Place the slide in a 100 mm Petri dish and pipette the a…
Representative Results
Figure 1: Gelation chamber for pathology samples. (A) Two spacers, such as two pieces of #1.5 cover glass cut with a diamond knife, are placed on either side of the tissue after incubating the sample in gelling solution at 4 °C. The spacers should be thicker than the tissue slices, to prevent compression of the sample. (B) A lid, such a…
Disclosures
The authors have nothing to disclose.
Materials
| 6-well glass-bottom plate (#1.5 coverglass) | Cellvis | P06-1.5H-N | |
| Acetone | Fischer Scientifc | A18-500 | |
| Acrylamide | Sigma Aldrich | A8887 | |
| Acryloyl-X SE, (AcX) | Invitrogen | A20770 | |
| Agarose | Fischer Scientifc | BP160-100 | |
| Ammonium persulfate (APS) | Sigma Aldrich | A3678 | Initiatior |
| DAPI (1 mg/mL) | Thermo Scientific | 62248 | Nuclear stain |
| Diamond knife No. 88 CM | General Tools | 31116 | |
| Ethanol | Pharmco | 111000200 | |
| Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) 0.5 M | VWR | BDH7830-1 | |
| FFPE Kidney Sample | USBiomax | HuFPT072 | |
| Forceps | |||
| Micro cover Glass #1 (24 mm x 60 mm) | VWR | 48393 106 | |
| Micro cover Glass #1.5 (24 mm x 60 mm) | VWR | 48393 251 | |
| N,N,N′,N′-Tetramethylethylenediamine (TEMED) | Sigma Aldrich | T9281 | Accelerator |
| N,N′-Methylenebisacrylamide | Sigma Aldrich | M7279 | |
| Nunclon 6-Well Cell Culture Dish | Thermo Fisher | 140675 | |
| Nunc 15 mL Conical | Thermo Fisher | 339651 | |
| Nunc 50 mL Conical | Thermo Fisher | 339653 | |
| Orbital Shaker | |||
| Paint brush | |||
| pH Meter | |||
| Phosphate Buffered Saline (PBS) 10x Solution | Fischer Scientifc | BP399-1 | |
| Plastic Petri Dish (100 mm) | Fischer Scientifc | FB0875713 | |
| Proteinase K (Molecular Biology Grade) | Thermo Scientific | EO0491 | |
| Razor blade | Fischer Scientifc | 12640 | |
| Safelock Microcentrifuge Tubes 1.5 mL | Thermo Fisher | 3457 | |
| Safelock Microcentrifuge Tubes 2.0 mL | Thermo Fisher | 3459 | |
| Sodium acrylate | Sigma Aldrich | 408220 | |
| Sodium chloride | Sigma Aldrich | S6191 | |
| Sodium citrate tribasic dihydrate | Sigma Aldrich | C8532-1KG | |
| Tris Base | Fischer Scientifc | BP152-1 | |
| Triton X-100 | Sigma Aldrich | T8787 | |
| Xylene | Sigma Aldrich | 214736 |
Tags
Cite This Article
Expansion Pathology: A Method for High-resolution Optical Imaging of Clinical Tissue Samples. J. Vis. Exp. (Pending Publication), e20576, doi: (2023).