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Langner E, Puapatanakul P, Pudlowski R, Alsabbagh DY, Miner JH, Horani A, Dutcher SK, Brody SL, Wang JT, Suleiman HY, Mahjoub MR. Ultrastructure expansion microscopy (U-ExM) of mouse and human kidneys for analysis of subcellular structures. Cytoskeleton (Hoboken) 2024. [PMID: 38715433 DOI: 10.1002/cm.21870] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2024] [Revised: 04/11/2024] [Accepted: 04/22/2024] [Indexed: 05/21/2024]
Abstract
Ultrastructure expansion microscopy (U-ExM) involves the physical magnification of specimens embedded in hydrogels, which allows for super-resolution imaging of subcellular structures using a conventional diffraction-limited microscope. Methods for expansion microscopy exist for several organisms, organs, and cell types, and used to analyze cellular organelles and substructures in nanoscale resolution. Here, we describe a simple step-by-step U-ExM protocol for the expansion, immunostaining, imaging, and analysis of cytoskeletal and organellar structures in kidney tissue. We detail the critical modified steps to optimize isotropic kidney tissue expansion, and preservation of the renal cell structures of interest. We demonstrate the utility of the approach using several markers of renal cell types, centrioles, cilia, the extracellular matrix, and other cytoskeletal elements. Finally, we show that the approach works well on mouse and human kidney samples that were preserved using different fixation and embedding conditions. Overall, this protocol provides a simple and cost-effective approach to analyze both preclinical and clinical renal samples in high detail, using conventional lab supplies and standard widefield or confocal microscopy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ewa Langner
- Department of Medicine, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Pongpratch Puapatanakul
- Department of Medicine, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Rachel Pudlowski
- Department of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | | | - Jeffrey H Miner
- Department of Medicine, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Amjad Horani
- Department of Pediatrics, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Susan K Dutcher
- Department of Genetics, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Steven L Brody
- Department of Medicine, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Jennifer T Wang
- Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Hani Y Suleiman
- Department of Medicine, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Moe R Mahjoub
- Department of Medicine, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
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Langner E, Puapatanakul P, Pudlowski R, Alsabbagh DY, Miner JH, Horani A, Dutcher SK, Brody SL, Wang JT, Suleiman HY, Mahjoub MR. Ultrastructure expansion microscopy (U-ExM) of mouse and human kidneys for analysis of subcellular structures. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.02.16.580708. [PMID: 38405695 PMCID: PMC10889020 DOI: 10.1101/2024.02.16.580708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/27/2024]
Abstract
Ultrastructure expansion microscopy (U-ExM) involves the physical magnification of specimens embedded in hydrogels, which allows for super-resolution imaging of subcellular structures using a conventional diffraction-limited microscope. Methods for expansion microscopy exist for several organisms, organs, and cell types, and used to analyze cellular organelles and substructures in nanoscale resolution. Here, we describe a simple step-by-step U-ExM protocol for the expansion, immunostaining, imaging, and analysis of cytoskeletal and organellar structures in kidney tissue. We detail the critical modified steps to optimize isotropic kidney tissue expansion, and preservation of the renal cell structures of interest. We demonstrate the utility of the approach using several markers of renal cell types, centrioles, cilia, the extracellular matrix, and other cytoskeletal elements. Finally, we show that the approach works well on mouse and human kidney samples that were preserved using different fixation and storage conditions. Overall, this protocol provides a simple and cost-effective approach to analyze both pre-clinical and clinical renal samples in high detail, using conventional lab supplies and standard widefield or confocal microscopy.
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Zhuang Y, Shi X. Expansion microscopy: A chemical approach for super-resolution microscopy. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2023; 81:102614. [PMID: 37253290 PMCID: PMC11103276 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2023.102614] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2023] [Revised: 04/13/2023] [Accepted: 05/01/2023] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Super-resolution microscopy is a series of imaging techniques that bypass the diffraction limit of resolution. Since the 1990s, optical approaches, such as single-molecular localization microscopy, have allowed us to visualize biological samples from the sub-organelle to the molecular level. Recently, a chemical approach called expansion microscopy emerged as a new trend in super-resolution microscopy. It physically enlarges cells and tissues, which leads to an increase in the effective resolution of any microscope by the length expansion factor. Compared with optical approaches, expansion microscopy has a lower cost and higher imaging depth but requires a more complex procedure. The integration of expansion microscopy and advanced microscopes significantly pushed forward the boundary of super-resolution microscopy. This review covers the current state of the art in expansion microscopy, including the latest methods and their applications, as well as challenges and opportunities for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yinyin Zhuang
- Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA. https://twitter.com/YinyinZhuang
| | - Xiaoyu Shi
- Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA; Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA.
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Fan Y, Andrusivová Ž, Wu Y, Chai C, Larsson L, He M, Luo L, Lundeberg J, Wang B. Expansion spatial transcriptomics. Nat Methods 2023; 20:1179-1182. [PMID: 37349575 PMCID: PMC11078125 DOI: 10.1038/s41592-023-01911-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2022] [Accepted: 05/12/2023] [Indexed: 06/24/2023]
Abstract
Capture array-based spatial transcriptomics methods have been widely used to resolve gene expression in tissues; however, their spatial resolution is limited by the density of the array. Here we present expansion spatial transcriptomics to overcome this limitation by clearing and expanding tissue prior to capturing the entire polyadenylated transcriptome with an enhanced protocol. This approach enables us to achieve higher spatial resolution while retaining high library quality, which we demonstrate using mouse brain samples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuhang Fan
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Žaneta Andrusivová
- Department of Gene Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Science for Life Laboratory, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Yunming Wu
- Department of Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Chew Chai
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Ludvig Larsson
- Department of Gene Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Science for Life Laboratory, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Mengxiao He
- Department of Gene Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Science for Life Laboratory, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Liqun Luo
- Department of Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Joakim Lundeberg
- Department of Gene Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Science for Life Laboratory, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Bo Wang
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
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Middelhauve V, Siebrasse JP, Kubitscheck U. Expansion Microscopy of Bacillus subtilis. Methods Mol Biol 2023; 2601:191-202. [PMID: 36445585 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2855-3_10] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Expansion microscopy enables super-resolved visualization of specimen without the need of highly sophisticated and expensive optical instruments. Instead, the method is executed with conventional chemicals and lab equipment. Imaging of bacteria is performed using standard fluorescence microscopy. This chapter describes a protocol for the expansion microscopy of Bacillus subtilis expressing DivIVA-GFP. In addition, the cell wall was labeled by wheat germ agglutinin. Here, we place emphasis on the challenges of selecting the protein and organism of interest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Viola Middelhauve
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Jan Peter Siebrasse
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Ulrich Kubitscheck
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
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