Host: Prof. Dongmin Yin, East China Normal University
Abstract
Tissue clearing technique is becoming popular in recent years on studying brain and other neural tissue. By turning tissue transparent, intact organs can be directly imaged to acquire 3-D information. Zhao lab has developed a new tissue clearing technique named PEG Associated Solvent System (PEGASOS). (Cell Research 2018). The PEGASOS method efficiently clears both hard and soft tissue to high transparency and protects endogenous fluorescence with no loss. After relocating to CIBR, my lab started developing next generation tissue clearing method. To achieve uniform optical resolution for a large tissue sample is a major challenge for all conventional tissue clearing method. Loss of resolution and quality in deep regions is inevitable due to limited transparency. Therefore, we developed the Transparent Embedding Solvent System (TESOS) method which combines tissue clearing, transparent embedding, sectioning and block-face imaging together to acquire volumetric images of uniform resolution for adult mouse whole body sample. TESOS method is highly versatile and can be combined with different microscopic systems to achieve uniformly high resolution. With a light-sheet microscope, we imaged an adult mouse whole body including skin at uniform 0.8X0.8X3.5 µm3 voxel resolution within 120h. With 40/1.3NA objectives on confocal microscopes, uniform sub-micron resolution in the whole sample was achieved to reveal complete projection of individual nerve axons within the central or peripheral nervous system. Furtherly, with TESOS method, we accomplished the first mesoscale connectome mapping of individual sensory neuron axons spanning five centimeters from adult mouse digits to the spinal cord at uniform sub-micron resolution.
Biography
Dr. Hu Zhao is a Senior Investigator at the Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing. He earned his Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from the West China School of Stomatology at Sichuan University in 2001, followed by a Master's degree in Biology from the University of Virginia in 2003. In 2011, he obtained his clinical Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree from the UCLA School of Dentistry. From 2003 to 2009 and again from 2011 to 2015, Dr. Zhao conducted postdoctoral research in Dr. Yang Chai’s laboratory at the University of Southern California School of Dentistry. In 2016, he joined the Texas A&M University College of Dentistry as an Assistant Professor while also working part-time as a clinical dentist. In 2021, he successfully underwent tenure review by the university’s tenure committee. That same year, in August, Dr. Zhao joined the Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing. As a first or corresponding author, he has published research in prestigious journals such as Cell Stem Cell, Nature Cell Biology, Developmental Cell, and Cell Research.
Research focus of Dr. Zhao’s Lab: 1. Development of Novel Tissue Clearing-Based Imaging Platforms for Neural Circuit Mapping. His lab developed the PEGASOS tissue-clearing technique, which has been widely adopted by numerous research groups for 3D imaging of various soft and hard tissues. He further introduced the concept of embedding-clearing and developed the TESOS technology, which serves as the foundation for building a high-speed, high-resolution imaging platform at the Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing to map neural projections in the central and peripheral nervous systems. 2. Research on Endothelial Stem Cells. 3. Craniofacial Development and Stem Cell Biology. His lab investigates the developmental mechanisms of craniofacial soft and hard tissues, as well as the regulatory mechanisms of stem cells in adult dental, bone, and craniofacial tissues, with a focus on translational applications.
This event is open to the NYU Shanghai, East China Normal University, and Neuroscience community.