Tissue histology has been a gold standard in biomedical research. However, sectioning the tissues results in analysis of restricted brain regions and fragmentation of long neuronal processes, thereby limiting the information on connectivity and reactivity. This hub therefore provides a unique combination of world-wide leading expertise in tracing and clearing technology. It combines novel clearing techniques (developed by hub members) allowing mapping neuronal, vascular and glial networks in whole rodent brains and spinal cords with novel monosynaptic tracing techniques (developed by hub members) allowing to monitor connectivity changes over time during disease progression. This scalable approach will strongly facilitate and standardize the study of neuronal circuits and their connectivity within the SyNergy cluster by allowing unbiased assessment within intact organs and even entire organisms. In addition, large human tissues (~1000 times thicker than standard histology) can also be labelled and cleared- making DISCO clearing a valuable tool also for translational SyNergy projects.

Hub Committee

Ali Ertürk & Martin Dichgans

Coordinator

Mihail Todorov