Dissemin is shutting down on January 1st, 2025

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Nature Research, Scientific Reports, 1(9), 2019

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-50359-x

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A Clearing Technique to Enhance Endogenous Fluorophores in Skin and Soft Tissue

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

AbstractFluorescent proteins are used extensively in transgenic animal models to label and study specific cell and tissue types. Expression of these proteins can be imaged and analyzed using fluorescent and confocal microscopy. Conventional confocal microscopes cannot penetrate through tissue more than 4–6 μm thick. Tissue clearing procedures overcome this challenge by rendering thick specimens into translucent tissue. However, most tissue clearing techniques do not satisfactorily preserve expression of endogenous fluorophores. Using simple adjustments to the BABB (Benzoic Acid Benzyl Benzoate) clearing methodology, preservation of fluorophore expression can be maintained. Modified BABB tissue clearing is a reliable technique to clear skin and soft tissue specimens for the study of dermal biology, wound healing and fibrotic pathologies.