Microscopic dilation helps 'burst' tiny brain tissue

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A microscope reveals small wonders by making things look bigger. Although such optical instruments have been continuously improved over the past 400 years, there are always limitations in resolution and cost. That creates problems in studying nanoscale objects, such as neurons, which are the brain's main functional units.Kiryl Piatkevich, an assistant professor at Westlake University in Hangzhou, decided to go the opposite direction. They have the idea not to enlarge the image of the object. But enlarges the image of the object itself to make the object explode

This idea is so ทดลองเล่นสล็อต crazy that even Dr. Piekwit still did not believe that it was possible. It was not until Dr. Ed Boyden's team at MIT, where Kiryl Piatkevich was working at the time, came across a self-expanding hydrogel, essentially made of water-absorbing polymers. That is the same type of hydrogel that is found in diapers today.The new substance can absorb water several times its own weight. During this process, each hydrogel polymer chain expands evenly, making the material exponentially larger and 1,000 times larger, and this tool allows us to better observe our brains. how?

In order for this idea to work, Dr. Pietquevich implanted a brain biopsy into the hydrogel. The gel is then fully immersed in water. At the nanoscale, the brain tissue molecules are stretched together with the hydrogel molecules attached. This method is called "Magnifying microscope"Although the gel can grow evenly in all directions. But how can we be sure that the tissue sample of the gel expands proportionally so that its structure does not deform?

The main reason why the expansion appears to be fully isotropic or even in all directions is because the hydrogel's monomers we wear are less than one nm. All these molecules are able to cover the surrounding molecules equally, ”explains Dr. Piekwichit.In other words, nanometer-sized hydrogel monomers are like tiny hooks.Make sure the hooks are distributed as evenly as possible.They hold each brain tissue molecule tightly from That pulls to the direction of their own growth without distorting the original shape. And most importantly, they are much larger.

With this technique, which has been further developed in the laboratory of Dr. Pietquech at West Lake University, specimens can be extended up to eight times in length, or about 700 times in volume.The technology is simple, cheap, and effective, which is spread throughout the biological sciences. In the United States, clinical trials are being expanded to obtain high-resolution images of some of the human tissues to diagnose some early-stage diseases that cannot be seen with conventional microscopes.