Scientist Collaborator Allison Yukiko Louie
Andrew Steelman Laboratory
Zeiss 710 Multiphoton Confocal Microscope
Funded by the United States Department of Agriculture, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign start-up funds and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Pilot Research Grant
Myelination is an important process in the brain where a fatty substance called myelin is formed around axons of neurons. The formation of myelin increases the speed of electrical signals traveling along the axons, thus playing a vital role in the central nervous system. Researchers are investigating the effects of diet and disease on myelination processes using mouse brains.
A tissue-clearing technique called CLARITY (Clear Lipid-exchanged Acrylamide-hybridized Rigid Imaging/ Immunostainingcompatible Tissue-hYdrogel) was used to render the brain tissue transparent while maintaining an intact protein scaffold. The image, taken with a confocal microscope, shows a sagittal section of the mouse brain immunostained with anti-proteolipid protein. This piece conveys the fragile yet complex nature of the brain.
