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Residual β cell function can positively affect diabetes regulation in type 1 diabetes (T1D), but details on residual β cell mass distribution in T1D is largely lacking in a whole organ context. Implementing an optical 3D imaging pipeline, we generated a complete account of the remaining β cells throughout an entire human late onset T1D pancreas at a microscopic resolution. Our data show that most of the residual β cells were present as scattered individual cells or as punctated clusters of individual β cells, spatially separated from each other and all other endocrine cell types. Compared to islet-associated β cells, extra-islet β cells appeared in a substantially higher relative abundance in the head region of the T1D pancreas. This 3D depiction of an entire T1D pancreas shows that individual β cells may be preserved and/or formed in a highly regionalized manner, potentially reflecting key aspects of disease dynamics, advocating for increased focus on extra-islet islet β cells in attempts to develop strategies for pancreatic β cell preservation in T1D.

Introduction: Optical Projection Tomography (OPT) and light sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM) are high resolution optical imaging techniques, ideally suited for ex vivo 3D whole mouse brain imaging. Although they exhibit high specificity for their targets, the anatomical detail provided by tissue autofluorescence remains limited.

Methods: T1-weighted images were acquired from 19 BABB or DBE cleared brains to create an MR template using serial longitudinal registration. Afterwards, fluorescent OPT and LSFM images were coregistered/normalized to the MR template to create fusion images.

Results: Volumetric calculations revealed a significant difference between BABB and DBE cleared brains, leading to develop two optimized templates, with associated tissue priors and brain atlas, for BABB (OCUM) and DBE (iOCUM). By creating fusion images, we identified virus infected brain regions, mapped dopamine transporter and translocator protein expression, and traced innervation from the eye along the optic tract to the thalamus and superior colliculus using cholera toxin B. Fusion images allowed for precise anatomical identification of fluorescent signal in the detailed anatomical context provided by MR.

Discussion: The possibility to anatomically map fluorescent signals on magnetic resonance (MR) images, widely used in clinical and preclinical neuroscience, would greatly benefit applications of optical imaging of mouse brain. These specific MR templates for cleared brains enable a broad range of neuroscientific applications integrating 3D optical brain imaging.

To facilitate the understanding of how a complex organ such as the pancreas is formed, this chapter illustrates the general anatomical dynamics of pancreas morphogenesis that occur during development in mice (and in humans where relevant). By applying recent advances in optical imaging techniques, including optical projection tomography and light sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM), this chapter presents a full image series demonstrating pancreatic bud formation and growth, as well as key morphological events that result in murine and human organs that are anatomically quite different. Further, it is now well established that pancreas development is governed by complex gene regulatory networks, where the timing and duration of gene expression, as well as the degree of molecular interactions are critical. Where appropriate, these key molecular determinants in inductive processes or other events are discussed in relation to pancreas organogenesis. Finally, this chapter describes the spatial and quantitative distribution of insulin as an example of pancreatic endocrine structure-function relationships, where lobular islet heterogeneity in the adult pancreata of mice and humans are evaluated and discussed.

Pancreatic islets of Langerhans play a pivotal role in regulating blood glucose homeostasis, but critical information regarding their mass, distribution and composition is lacking within a whole organ context. Here, we apply a 3D imaging pipeline to generate a complete account of the insulin-producing islets throughout the human pancreas at a microscopic resolution and within a maintained spatial 3D context. These data show that human islets are far more heterogenous than previously accounted for with regards to their size distribution and cellular make up. By deep tissue 3D imaging, this in-depth study demonstrates that 50% of the human insulin-expressing islets are virtually devoid of glucagon-producing α-cells, an observation with significant implications for both experimental and clinical research.

We previously demonstrated that the lungs of deceased COVID-19 patients were filled with a clear hydrogel consisting of hyaluronan (HA). In this translational study, we investigated the role of HA at all stages of COVID-19 disease to map the consequences of elevated HA on morbidity and identify the mechanism of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-induced HA production. A reduced alveolar surface area was observed in the lungs of deceased COVID-19 patients compared to healthy controls, as visualized by a 3D rendering of lung morphology using light-sheet fluorescence microscopy. We confirmed the presence of HA in lung biopsies and found large quantities of proinflammatory fragmented HA. The association of systemic HA in blood plasma and disease severity was assessed in patients with mild (WHO Clinical Progression Scale, WHO-CPS, 1–5) and severe COVID-19 (WHO-CPS, 6–9) during the acute and convalescent phases and related to lung function. We found that systemic levels of HA were high during acute COVID-19 disease, remained elevated during convalescence, and were associated with a reduced diffusion capacity. In vitro 3D-lung models, differentiated from primary human bronchial epithelial cells, were used to study the effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on HA metabolism, and transcriptomic analyses revealed a dysregulation of HA synthases and hyaluronidases, both contributing to increased HA in apical secretions. Furthermore, corticosteroid treatment reduced the inflammation and downregulated HA synthases. Our findings demonstrate that HA plays a role in COVID-19 morbidity and that sustained elevated HA concentrations may contribute to long-term respiratory impairment.

The rodent pancreas is the prevalent model system for preclinical diabetes research. However, due to the compound endocrine–exocrine organization of the gland, with the endocrine islets of Langerhans scattered by the thousands throughout the much greater exocrine parenchyma, stereological assessments of endocrine cell mass, commonly insulin-producing ß-cells, are exceedingly challenging. In recent years, optical mesoscopic imaging techniques such as optical projection tomography (OPT) and light sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM) have seen dramatic developments, enabling 3D visualization of fluorescently labeled cells in mm- to cm-sized tissues with μm resolution. Here we present a protocol for 3D visualization and “absolute” quantitative assessments of, for example, islet mass throughout the volume of rodent pancreata with maintained spatial context.

Viral tropism within the brain and the role(s) of vertebrate immune response to neurotropic flaviviruses infection is largely understudied. We combine multimodal imaging (cm-nm scale) with single nuclei RNA-sequencing to study Langat virus in wildtype and interferon alpha/beta receptor knockout (Ifnar^-/-) mice to visualize viral pathogenesis and define molecular mechanisms. Whole brain viral infection is imaged by Optical Projection Tomography coregistered to ex vivo MRI. Infection is limited to grey matter of sensory systems in wildtype mice, but extends into white matter, meninges and choroid plexus in Ifnar^-/- mice. Cells in wildtype display strong type I and II IFN responses, likely due to Ifnb expressing astrocytes, infiltration of macrophages and Ifng-expressing CD8+ NK cells, whereas in Ifnar^-/-, the absence of this response contributes to a shift in cellular tropism towards non-activated resident microglia. Multimodal imaging-transcriptomics exemplifies a powerful way to characterize mechanisms of viral pathogenesis and tropism.

The pancreas is a specialised multipurpose organ, that can be separated into two major compartments: endocrine and exocrine. The exocrine part makes up the majority of the organ volume and functions to secrete digestive enzymes into the small intestine. Notably, endocrine islets of Langerhans are embedded and scattered in vast numbers throughout the exocrine space. These miniature functional units are composed of different cell types that secrete hormones into the blood stream. The most abundant islet-cell is the insulin-producing β-cell. Highly coordinated, the endocrine cells are the primary regulators of energy homeostasis in the body. Together, the collective islet volume constitutes the pancreatic “isletome”, a synchronised, complex and size-equilibrated system that is able to respond to various metabolic conditions. Indeed, environmental and/or genetic conditions often lead to impaired islet function and/or β-cell destruction leading to elevated blood glucose levels over time and eventually diabetes. 

Diabetes mellitus is a disease that currently affects more than 400 million individuals worldwide. As such, understanding pancreatic disease-related mechanisms is pivotal to the development of new and more effective therapeutic, or even curative, regimens. The deep location of the pancreas in the abdomen and the relatively low resolution of current clinical imaging approaches, however, render the pancreatic islets difficult to study when visually assessing endocrine function. Although non-invasive imaging techniques have yet to reach their full potential, post-mortem studies of the pancreas and rodent disease models offer unique insights into the process of diabetes disease dynamics.

Diabetes induced by streptozotocin (STZ) is a widely used model system in pre-clinical research, where it is generally believed that the b-cells are depleted upon the administration of the drug. Yet, quantification of β-cell volume dynamics and underlying disease mechanisms have not been extensively described. Using optical projection tomography (OPT), light sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM) and advanced protocols for ex vivo whole organ three-dimensional (3D) imaging, this study demonstrated that STZ-induced β-cell depletion is modest, primarily affecting large islets, and is not the primary cause for the development of diabetes in STZ-diabetic mice. Combined with islet gene expression studies, the remaining β-cell volume in STZ-diabetic mice displayed a downregulation of glucose transporter type 2 (GLUT2), a transmembrane carrier vital for sensing blood glucose levels. Islet transplantation into the anterior chamber of the eye (ACE) reversed the STZ-induced hyperglycaemia and partially restored islet function, including GLUT2, but did not restore β-cell volume loss. Extensive 3D image datasets were generated as a resource to the research community. The combined results of this study indicated that STZ-induced hyperglycaemia is not caused by β-cell loss, but rather by dysfunctional β-cells and that recovery of islet function is restrained by continuous hyperglycaemia.

3D imaging using OPT has proven to be a reliable technique in quantifying cellular/anatomical features of the mouse pancreas. However, the technique has rarely been applied to patient-derived tissues. Here, a label-free and non-destructive method was developed to assess clinical biopsies within hours of collection. Specifically, this study showed that autofluorescence-based imaging can be used to delineate tumours of the pancreas (pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, PDAC) in 3D, which may aid in identifying tumour margins in conjunction with resective surgery. Importantly, the protocol included a reversal pipeline so that other histological workflows could be applied to the same specimen. Furthermore, this study demonstrated that natural fluorescent substances in the endocrine cells provide sufficient contrast when quantifying both the volume and number of islets of Langerhans in the healthy pancreas. Altogether, the developed technique may provide a novel tool for the rapid 3D analysis of pancreatic biopsies that may complement and improve traditional pathological assessments.

With the emergence of islet transplantation networks worldwide, access to fixed pancreatic tissues from diseased donors has dramatically improved. Hereby, the near instant autolysis of the pancreas post-mortem can generally be avoided, which provides the opportunity to quantitatively study the entire gland ex vivo within a conserved spatial context. Yet, mesoscopic 3D imaging of the pancreas (by OPT and/or LSFM) has been limited predominantly due to the obstacle of labelling larger tissue volumes. As such, a simple approach to antibody labelling and cellular imaging was developed in cubic centimetre-sized tissue cuboids that were mapped to the whole organ. By stitching the resultant datasets back into 3D space, this approach demonstrated how essentially any human organ may be analysed in full with high resolution. This technique was applied to pancreata from non-diabetic and type 2 diabetic (T2D) donors, analysing over 200 thousand islets, revealing features of the human pancreas that were not analysed in 3D previously, including high islet dense regions and intra-islet haemorrhaging. Crucially, this new technique may contribute to unveil a wealth of new insights into the complex pathophysiology of the “diabetic pancreas”.

By applying the above method to the entire volume of the human pancreas, the absolute distribution and volume of insulin-positive cells in a pancreas from a donor with longstanding type 1 diabetes (T1D) was demonstrated for the first time. By dividing the 19 cm long organ into smaller pieces, followed by insulin labelling, OPT imaging and reconstruction in 3D space, approximately 173,000 insulin-positive objects were identified. By utilising tissue autofluorescence, the entire organ was reconstructed in 3D, together with blood vessels and ducts. These data indicated several important regional differences in β-cell mass, such as the uncinate process showing the highest density, which potentially reflects key aspects of disease dynamics. Furthermore, regions with a “punctated distribution” of single β-cells in close proximity to each other were identified. Although the significance of these observations needs to be elucidated, we speculate that these regions could be associated with pancreatic regeneration, which might permit the development of new interventions for clinical regenerative processes in the future. Altogether, this study represents the first whole organ account of β-cell distribution at the current level of resolution in an entire organ. As such, it may serve as an important advancement towards detailed whole organ analyses of endocrine cell identity/function, via a wide range of markers, in the study of normal anatomy and pathophysiology of the human pancreas.

Mouse models for streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetes probably represent the most widely used systems for preclinical diabetes research, owing to the compound’s toxic effect on pancreatic β-cells. However, a comprehensive view of pancreatic β-cell mass distribution subject to STZ administration is lacking. Previous assessments have largely relied on the extrapolation of stereological sections, which provide limited 3D-spatial and quantitative information. This data descriptor presents multiple ex vivo tomographic optical image datasets of the full β-cell mass distribution in mice subject to single high and multiple low doses of STZ administration, and in glycaemia recovered mice. The data further include information about structural features, such as individual islet β-cell volumes, spatial coordinates, and shape as well as signal intensities for both insulin and GLUT2. Together, they provide the most comprehensive anatomical record of the effects of STZ administration on the islet of Langerhans in mice. As such, this data descriptor may serve as reference material to facilitate the planning, use and (re)interpretation of this widely used disease model.

The possibility to quantitatively study specific molecular/cellular features of complete human organs with preserved spatial 3D context would have widespread implications for pre-clinical and clinical medicine. Whereas optical 3D imaging approaches have experienced a formidable revolution, they have remained limited due to current incapacities in obtaining specific labelling within large tissue volumes. We present a simple approach enabling reconstruction of antibody labeled cells within entire human organs with preserved organ context. We demonstrate the utility of the approach by providing volumetric data and 3D distribution of hundreds of thousands of islets of Langerhans within the human pancreas. By assessments of pancreata from non-diabetic and type 2 diabetic individuals, we display previously unrecognized features of the human islet mass distribution and pathology. As such, this method may contribute not only in unraveling new information of the pancreatic anatomy/pathophysiology, but it may be translated to essentially any antibody marker or organ system.