3D imaging in CUBIC-cleared mouse heart tissue: going deeper

The ability to acquire high resolution 3D images of the heart enables to study heart diseases more in detail. In this work, the CUBIC (clear, unobstructed brain imaging cocktails and computational analysis) clearing protocol was optimized for thick mouse heart sections to enhance the penetration depth of the confocal microscope lasers into the tissue. In addition, the optimized CUBIC clearing of the heart enhances antibody penetration into the tissue by a factor of five. The present protocol enables deep 3D high-quality image acquisition in the heart allowing a much more accurate assessment of the cellular and structural changes that underlie heart diseases.Human Frontiers Scientific Program (RGP0004/2013); EC FP7 CIG grant HIGH THROUGHPUT TOMO; Comunidad de Madrid BRADE (S2013/ICE-2958); MINECO. Ramón y Cajal program (RYC 2010-05838); MINECO, ISCIII-Fondos FEDER (PI12/01580).European Community's Seventh Framework Progra