{"id":1652,"date":"2018-06-07T11:31:51","date_gmt":"2018-06-07T11:31:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/bioimaging\/?p=1652"},"modified":"2022-04-13T16:27:03","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T16:27:03","slug":"equipment-new-x-clarity-tissue-clearing-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/bioimaging\/equipment-new-x-clarity-tissue-clearing-system\/","title":{"rendered":"SPOKE EQUIPMENT: X-Clarity Tissue Clearing System."},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the problems associated with imaging fluorescence in large biological samples is the obscuring effects of light scatter. Traditionally this has meant physically sectioning the material into optically-thin slices in order to visualise microscopic structure.  With the advent of new volumetric imaging techniques, e.g.  lightsheet microscopy, there is increasing demand for procedures that allow deeper interrogation of biological tissues. With this in mind, an innovative clearing system has recently been purchased through generous donations to the European Cancer Stem Cell Research Institute (ECSCRI)<\/a>. The equipment, which will be housed in ECSCRI lab space, allows large, intact histological samples to be rendered transparent for fluorescent labelling and 3D visualisation by confocal and lightsheet microscopy.<\/p>\n

The X-Clarity tissue clearing system is designed to simplify, standardise and accelerate tissue clearing using the CLARITY technique (an acronymn for C<\/strong>lear L<\/strong>ipid-exchanged A<\/strong>crylamide-hydridized R<\/strong>igid Imaging\/I<\/strong>mmunostaining\/in situ-hybridization-compatible T<\/strong>issue hY<\/strong>drogel). In the technique,  preserved tissues are first embedded in a hydrogel support matrix. The lipids are then extracted via electrophoresis to create a stable, optically transparent tissue-hydrogel hybrid that permits immunofluorescent labelling and <\/span>downstream<\/span> 3D <\/span>imaging<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

The new equipment and associated reagents <\/span>will have wide relevance to many areas of research<\/span> in Cardiff<\/span>,<\/a>  including deep visualisation of <\/span>breast cancer <\/span>tumours by Professor Matt Smalley’s research group<\/a> <\/span> using  the Bioimaging Hub’s new lightsheet system. <\/a>You can see a video <\/span>here<\/a> that shows the power of the  CLARITY technique for high resolution <\/span>3D<\/span> <\/span>visualisation <\/span> of tissue and organ structure.<\/span><\/p>\n

Further Reading<\/em><\/p>\n