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Researchers from three universities of Vienna have developed a new method for the analysis of biological tissues, which combines the cleaning with the removal of various types of pigments, as they are typical for most animals. A study published in the journal Science Advances.

Analysis of individual cells in the thickness of whole organs or tissues is becoming increasingly important in biology. To date, the researchers cut larger tissue into thin layers, examine each of them separately, and then together in a three-dimensional model. However, this time-consuming process that often gives incomplete results. For example, cells that make up our nervous system, have long processes that can pass through the body. Reconstruction of these projections of small slices is extremely challenging.

One solution to this problem is to use the cleaning methods that can make opaque tissue transparent. When applying them to complex tissues, including the brain, these methods allow to visualize individual cells, which allows scientists to obtain three-dimensional images of cells and tissues without partitioning.

However, existing methods of cleaning is still not optimized for removal of various pigments, which are present in the tissues. This limits the depth of imaging samples. Therefore, despite the power of methods of purification of the tissues, they were limited to specific unpigmented organs such as the brain, and a small number of model species that have practically no pigmentation.

The authors of the new study proposed a new approach to solving this problem. The new method is called DEEP-Clear. It is the simultaneous sample depigmentation and its treatment. An important observation, which helped develop the new method was that the processing of fabrics of different chemical substances had a synergistic effect. It was important to minimize the number of treatments with chemical compounds to preserve the integrity of the tissues.

Scientists have shown that DEEP-Clear can be applied to many species including bony fish, squids, worms, mollusks, and amphibians. In addition to its compatibility with many types, another attractive feature of the new method lies in the fact that the transparency of the treated organisms allows to visualize the patterns in different scales. On the one hand, the technique allows to see very small details, such as points of contact between neurons or separate clusters of dividing cells. On the other hand, the technology allows the use of the planar illumination microscopy, in which two-dimensional laser light allows you to quickly scan the entire sample, resulting in a gender��th three-dimensional computer model.

The authors believe that their method will make the cleaning of fabrics more popular among researchers. This will allow scientists worldwide to analyze the molecular and cellular structures of various kinds, which are very interesting, but poorly understood neurobiological features.