Imaging of post-mortem human brain tissue using electron and X-ray microscopy

Amanda J Lewis; Christel Genoud; Mélissa Pont; Wilma Dj van de Berg; Stephan Frank; Henning Stahlberg; Sarah H Shahmoradian; Ashraf Al-Amoudi

doi:10.1016/j.sbi.2019.06.003

Imaging of post-mortem human brain tissue using electron and X-ray microscopy

Curr Opin Struct Biol. 2019 Oct:58:138-148. doi: 10.1016/j.sbi.2019.06.003. Epub 2019 Jul 23.

Authors

Amanda J Lewis¹, Christel Genoud², Mélissa Pont¹, Wilma Dj van de Berg³, Stephan Frank⁴, Henning Stahlberg⁵, Sarah H Shahmoradian⁶, Ashraf Al-Amoudi¹

Affiliations

¹ Center for Cellular Imaging and NanoAnalytics (C-CINA), Biozentrum, University of Basel, Switzerland.
² Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Switzerland.
³ Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, Section: Clinical Neuroanatomy and Biobanking, Advanced Optical Microscopy Core O│2, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Location VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
⁴ Division of Neuropathology, Institute for Medical Genetics and Pathology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
⁵ Center for Cellular Imaging and NanoAnalytics (C-CINA), Biozentrum, University of Basel, Switzerland. Electronic address: henning.stahlberg@unibas.ch.
⁶ Department of Biology and Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland.

PMID: 31349127
DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2019.06.003

Abstract

Electron microscopy imaging of post-mortem human brain (PMHB) comes with a unique set of challenges due to numerous parameters beyond the researcher's control. Nevertheless, the wealth of information provided by the ultrastructural analysis of PMHB is proving crucial in our understanding of neurodegenerative diseases. This review highlights the importance of such studies and covers challenges, limitations and recent developments in the application of current EM imaging, including cryo-ET and correlative hybrid techniques, on PMHB.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Artifacts
Brain / cytology*
Brain / ultrastructure*
Humans
Microscopy, Electron / methods*
X-Rays