MSphere of Influence: Clearing a Path for High-Resolution Visualization of Host-Pathogen Interactions In Vivo.

Shumin Tan

doi:10.1128/msphere.00308-19

Abstract

Shumin Tan works in the field of Mycobacterium tuberculosis-host interactions. In this mSphere of Influence article, she reflects on how the paper "Single-cell phenotyping within transparent intact tissue through whole-body clearing" by B. Yang et al. (Cell 158:945-958, 2014, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2014.07.017) impacted her ideas on approaches to visualize and understand heterogeneous host-pathogen interactions in vivo in 3-dimensional space at the single-cell level, through the tractable and broadly compatible tissue optical clearing methods developed.

Highlights

Inspiration for one’s work can come from subject areas that are quite different, with conceptual parallels or methodological advances crossing fields
I highlight here a paper—“Single-cell phenotyping within transparent intact tissue through whole-body clearing,” by the group of Viviana Gradinaru [1]—which describes a method with origins in neurobiology that I believe has significant potential for broad use in the field of infectious diseases
Their optimization of a passive tissue clearing method (PACT [for “passive clarity technique”]), together with development of a mounting medium compatible with use in imaging thick tissue (RIMS [for “refractive index matching solution”]), presents very tractable and applied methods that can be exploited in the study of host-pathogen interactions at the single-bacterium level, and in the spatial context of host tissue structure and function

Summary

Introduction

Inspiration for one’s work can come from subject areas that are quite different, with conceptual parallels or methodological advances crossing fields. Their paper sought to develop methodology that would enable whole-organ imaging at the cellular level, while retaining complete intact tissue architecture and compatibility with myriad current imaging tools such as fluorescent proteins and RNA single-molecule fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) [1].

Results

Conclusion