EZ Clear for simple, rapid, and robust mouse whole organ clearing
Abstract
Tissue clearing for whole organ cell profiling has revolutionized biology and imaging for exploration of organs in three-dimensional space without compromising tissue architecture. But complicated, laborious procedures, or expensive equipment, as well as the use of hazardous, organic solvents prevent the widespread adoption of these methods. Here, we report a simple and rapid tissue clearing method, EZ Clear, that can clear whole adult mouse organs in 48 hr in just three simple steps. Samples stay at room temperature and remain hydrated throughout the clearing process, preserving endogenous and synthetic fluorescence, without altering sample size. After wholemount clearing and imaging, samples processed with EZ Clear can be subjected to downstream applications, such as tissue embedding and cryosectioning followed by standard histology or immunofluorescent staining without loss of fluorescence signal from endogenous or synthetic reporters. Furthermore, we demonstrate that wholemount adult mouse brains processed with EZ Clear can be successfully immunolabeled for fluorescent imaging while still retaining signal from endogenous fluorescent reporters. Overall, the simplicity, speed, and flexibility of EZ Clear make it easy to adapt and implement in diverse imaging modalities in biomedical research.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Oct 11, 2022
- Source ID
- 10.7554/elife.77419
Entities
People
- Carlos P Flores Suarez
- Chih-Wei Hsu
- Jason M Kirk
- Joshua D Wythe
- Juan Cerda Iii
- Mary E. Dickinson
- Tara L Rasmussen
- Williamson D Turner
Organizations
- American Heart Association
- Baylor College of Medicine
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas
- National Institutes of Health
- United States Department of Defense