title: Imaging transient blood vessel fusion events in zebrafish by correlative volume electron microscopy.
abstract: The study of biological processes has become increasingly reliant on obtaining high-resolution spatial and temporal data through imaging techniques. As researchers demand molecular resolution of cellular events in the context of whole organisms, correlation of non-invasive live-organism imaging with electron microscopy in complex three-dimensional samples becomes critical. The developing blood vessels of vertebrates form a highly complex network which cannot be imaged at high resolution using traditional methods. Here we show that the point of fusion between growing blood vessels of transgenic zebrafish, identified in live confocal microscopy, can subsequently be traced through the structure of the organism using Focused Ion Beam/Scanning Electron Microscopy (FIB/SEM) and Serial Block Face/Scanning Electron Microscopy (SBF/SEM). The resulting data give unprecedented microanatomical detail of the zebrafish and, for the first time, allow visualization of the ultrastructure of a time-limited biological event within the context of a whole organism.
authors.affiliation: Electron Microscopy Unit, London Research Institute, Cancer Research UK, London, UK.
authors.forename: Hannah E J
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Armer
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mariggi
authors.forename: Ken M Y
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Png
authors.forename: Christel
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Genoud
authors.forename: Alexander G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Monteith
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Bushby
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gerhardt
authors.forename: Lucy M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Collinson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D015509:Developmental Biology; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D007477:Ions; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning / Q000379:methods*; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission / Q000379:methods; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods; D008953:Models, Anatomic; D015027:Zebrafish
chemical_list: D007477:Ions