Correlative light and volume electron microscopy for studying astrocyte-neuron interaction

초록

Correlative Light-Electron microscopy (CLEM) is a powerful imaging technique capable of simultaneously acquiring information at the molecular level (fluorescence microscopy, FM) and ultrastructural level (electron microscopy, EM) from the same biological sample. This technical advantage enables the precise elucidation of structure-function relationships within cells and tissues. While it is known that astrocytes in the brain of trained animals form more connections with memory-encoding neurons (engram neurons) and are directly involved in learning and memory, the specific structural associations between memory-encoding engram neurons and astrocytes after learning have not yet been clearly elucidated. The objective of this study is to analyze the connection patterns between astrocytes and memory-recording neurons after learning at high resolution. To achieve this, we propose a volume CLEM method based on large area scanning electron microscopy (SEM). As a result of this study, we propose a high-resolution volume-CLEM imaging platform that enables more precise and reliable analysis of complex neural and brain tissue structures. This approach will provide important insights into the role of astrocytes in various neurobiological phenomena, including learning and memory.