Rapid lightsheet fluorescence imaging of whole Drosophila brains at nanoscale resolution by potassium acrylate-based expansion microscopy
Taking advantage of the good mechanical strength of expanded Drosophila brains, we applied potassium (poly)acrylate-based hydrogels for expansion microscopy (ExM), resulting in a 40x plus increased resolution of transgenic fluorescent proteins. Large-volume ExM is realized by using an axicon-based Bessel lightsheet microscope, featuring gentle multi-color fluorophore excitation and intrinsic optical sectioning capability, enabling visualization at an effective resolution comparable to electron microscopy.
