Poster #053
DAPI-Based U-ExM in Human Retinal Organoids: A Pilot Study
Mentors: Leila Bahmani, PhD and Aaron Nagiel, MD-PhD
Current confocal microscopy technology limits our ability to view nano cell structures within the retina due to lack of necessary magnification required to provide high resolution images. However, a new expansion method, ultrastructure expansion microscopy (U-ExM), allows for visualization of nano cell structures by physically and consistently expanding the structures by 4x its original size. Using retinal organoids, we followed a 5-day protocol in which we consistently applied a combination of solutions (AA, FA, PFA, MS, denaturation buffer, DAPI), allowed for sufficient incubation times, and ultimately resulted in significantly larger organoids. We believe this expansion will allow us to view connections between cells in the retina previously only visible through electron microscopy, revealing details that may fundamentally change our understanding of retinal diseases and cell structure with enough research. Additionally, its application is not limited to just retinas and may find significant use cases in other fields of research.