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In vivo super-resolution of the brain – How to visualize the hidden nanoplasticity?
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Researchers reviewed how super-resolution fluorescence microscopy techniques — which allow scientists to image structures smaller than what conventional light microscopes can resolve — are being used to study the nanoscale structure and plasticity of brain synapses in living mice. These imaging advances help reveal how tiny changes in brain connections relate to learning and memory, using "nanoplasticity" in its neurological sense rather than as a reference to plastic pollution.
Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy has entered most biological laboratories worldwide and its benefit is undisputable. Its application to brain imaging, for example in living mice, enables the study of sub-cellular structural plasticity and brain function directly in a living mammal. The demands of brain imaging on the different super-resolution microscopy techniques (STED, RESOLFT, SIM, ISM) and labeling strategies are discussed here as well as the challenges of the required cranial window preparation. Applications of super-resolution in the anesthetized mouse brain enlighten the stability and plasticity of synaptic nanostructures. These studies show the potential of in vivo super-resolution imaging and justify its application more widely in vivo to investigate the role of nanostructures in memory and learning.
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Single-Particle Resolution Fluorescence Microscopy of Nanoplastics
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Researchers developed a super-resolution fluorescence microscopy technique that enables single-particle detection and precise localization of nanoplastics in biological tissues and environmental samples. This advancement addresses a major limitation in nanoplastic research, as conventional microscopy lacks the resolution to distinguish individual nanoplastics from background fluorescence or free dye.
Environmental enrichment enhances patterning and remodeling of synaptic nanoarchitecture revealed by STED nanoscopy
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This neuroscience study used STED super-resolution microscopy to show that environmental enrichment enhances the size and structural complexity of synapses in the brain. It is a basic neuroscience paper not related to microplastics or environmental plastic pollution.
Whole-tissue distribution analysis for visualization of nanoplastics in the neonatal mouse brain
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Researchers fed newborn mice tiny plastic particles (nanoplastics) and used a new imaging method to see where they went in the whole brain without cutting it into slices. Smaller 50 nanometer particles spread throughout the brain, with the highest amounts found in the thalamus and brainstem, while larger 500 nanometer particles showed much lower levels.
Environmental enrichment enhances patterning and remodeling of synaptic nanoarchitecture as revealed by STED nanoscopy
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Researchers used STED nanoscopy to reveal that environmental enrichment enhances the patterning and remodeling of synaptic nanoarchitecture in the brain, demonstrating experience-dependent structural plasticity at an unprecedented nanoscale resolution.
Cortex-Wide, Cellular-Resolution Volumetric Imaging with a Modular Two-Photon Imaging Platform
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This paper presents Meso2P, a new two-photon microscope capable of imaging the entire mouse cortex at single-cell resolution — a significant advance in neuroscience instrumentation. Among its demonstrated applications is the ability to track the distribution of micro- and nanoplastic particles in living brain tissue in real time. While primarily a neuroscience tool, its capacity to visualize nanoplastics in the brain non-invasively could become valuable for directly studying how plastic particles move through and accumulate in neural tissue.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.