Sheep kidney imaged using 488nm and 658 nm lasers, 10 micron resolutionThe Sapphire Biomolecular Imager can do so much more than image gels, blots, and microwell plates. With its 25 cm x 25 cm scanning bed, the versatile Sapphire can scan tissues and even small animal models such as mice, zebrafish, and Xenopus oocytes, to study tissue morphology or gross anatomy.
Bakela et al took advantage of this capability of the Sapphire Imager to study liver morphology in a recent publication. The group investigated the ability of soluble major histocompatibility complex II (sMHCII) molecules to rescue symptoms of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) in a rat model of the disease.
Chronic AIH is characterized by a T-cell-mediated autoimmune response that attacks the liver. The disease is usually treated with immunosuppressive drugs. New and specific therapies are needed to better treat the disease and to avoid the side effects associated with long-term use of immunosuppressants.
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The authors set out to test whether sMCHII molecules could rescue liver damage in a rat model of AIH. These molecules are hypothesized to help maintain immune tolerance and promote immune system suppression, protecting against autoimmunity. Promisingly, sMCHII molecules had been tested previously in a model of systemic lupus erythematosus and found to decrease the amount of autoantibodies and improve symptoms.
To characterize the liver damage that occurred in the AIH rat model, the authors collected and fixed livers from the rats and then scanned them on a Sapphire Biomolecular Imager using white light as well as four-channel fluorescence. The four-channel images, detecting tissue autofluorescence, provided detail of the gross anatomy and morphology of the liver tissue. Treatment with sMCHII appeared to rescue the fibrotic and necrotic changes that were observed in the livers of untreated rats, leading the authors to propose this approach could lead to new therapies for AIH.
Learn more about applications of the Sapphire Biomolecular Imager, including scanning tissues and small animal models using fluorescence, chemiluminescence, and phosphorimaging, here.
