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X-ray based virtual histology allows guided sectioning of heavy ion stained murine lungs for histological analysis.

ABSTRACT: Examination of histological or immunohistochemically stained 2D sections of embedded tissue is one of the most frequently used tools in biomedical research and clinical routine. Since to date, targeted sectioning of specific regions of interest (ROI) in the sample is not possible, we aimed at developing a guided sectioning approach based on x-ray 3D virtual histology for heavy ion stained murine lung samples. For this purpose, we increased the contrast to noise ratio of a standard benchtop microCT by 5-10-fold using free-propagation phase contrast imaging and thus substantially improved image quality. We then show that microCT 3D datasets deliver more precise anatomical information and quantification of the sample than traditional histological sections, which display deformations of the tissue. To quantify these deformations caused by sectioning we developed the "Displacement Index (DI)", which combines block-matching with the calculation of the local mutual information. We show that the DI substantially decreases when a femtosecond laser microtome is used for sections as opposed to a traditional microtome. In conclusion, our microCT based virtual histology approach can be used as a supplement and a guidance tool for traditional histology, providing 3D measurement capabilities and offering the ability to perform sectioning directly at an ROI.

SUBMITTER: Albers J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5955938 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:The small size of the adult and developing mouse heart poses a great challenge for imaging in preclinical research. The aim of the study was to establish a phosphotungstic acid (PTA) ex-vivo staining approach that efficiently enhances the x-ray attenuation of soft-tissue to allow high resolution 3D visualization of mouse hearts by synchrotron radiation based μCT (SRμCT) and classical μCT. We demonstrate that SRμCT of PTA stained mouse hearts ex-vivo allows imaging of the cardiac atrium, ventricles, myocardium especially its fibre structure and vessel walls in great detail and furthermore enables the depiction of growth and anatomical changes during distinct developmental stages of hearts in mouse embryos. Our x-ray based virtual histology approach is not limited to SRμCT as it does not require monochromatic and/or coherent x-ray sources and even more importantly can be combined with conventional histological procedures. Furthermore, it permits volumetric measurements as we show for the assessment of the plaque volumes in the aortic valve region of mice from an ApoE-/- mouse model. Subsequent, Masson-Goldner trichrome staining of paraffin sections of PTA stained samples revealed intact collagen and muscle fibres and positive staining of CD31 on endothelial cells by immunohistochemistry illustrates that our approach does not prevent immunochemistry analysis. The feasibility to scan hearts already embedded in paraffin ensured a 100% correlation between virtual cut sections of the CT data sets and histological heart sections of the same sample and may allow in future guiding the cutting process to specific regions of interest. In summary, since our CT based virtual histology approach is a powerful tool for the 3D depiction of morphological alterations in hearts and embryos in high resolution and can be combined with classical histological analysis it may be used in preclinical research to unravel structural alterations of various heart diseases.

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X-ray based virtual histology allows guided sectioning of heavy ion stained murine lungs for histological analysis.

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