Elasticizing tissues for reversible shape transformation and accelerated molecular labeling
- Journal:
- Nature Methods
- Published:
- DOI:
- 10.1038/s41592-020-0823-y
- Affiliations:
- 10
- Authors:
- 8
Research Highlight
Stretchable tissue samples make for faster analysis
© Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty
A technique that temporally makes tissue samples both robust and stretchy will speed up studies that involve running multiple tests over extended times on the same tissue samples.
Some research projects require delicate tissues samples to be interrogated multiple times over several years. This is both time consuming and difficult to do without damaging the samples.
Now, a team that included researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) has found a way to convert biological tissues into elastic hydrogels.
The stretchability of the treated tissues makes them more robust and easier to label them with fluorescent dyes. Furthermore, the change is reversible so that the tissues revert to their normal state.
The team demonstrated the technique by using to produce elasticized slabs of brain tissue. They anticipate that the team will accelerate the investigation of animal models and human samples.
References
- Nature Methods 17, 609–613 (2020). doi: 10.1038/s41592-020-0823-y