Starborg Tobias, Kadler Karl E
Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell-Matrix Research, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, Michael Smith Building, Oxford Road, Manchester, United Kingdom.
Birth Defects Res C Embryo Today. 2015 Mar;105(1):9-18. doi: 10.1002/bdrc.21087.
Studies of gene regulation, signaling pathways, and stem cell biology are contributing greatly to our understanding of early embryonic vertebrate development. However, much less is known about the events during the latter half of embryonic development, when tissues comprising mostly extracellular matrix (ECM) are formed. The matrix extends far beyond the boundaries of individual cells and is refractory to study by conventional biochemical and molecular techniques; thus major gaps exist in our knowledge of the formation and three-dimensional (3D) organization of the dense tissues that form the bulk of adult vertebrates. Serial block face-scanning electron microscopy (SBF-SEM) has the ability to image volumes of tissue containing numerous cells at a resolution sufficient to study the organization of the ECM. Furthermore, whereas light microscopy was once relatively straightforward and electron microscopy was performed in specialist laboratories, the tables are turned; SBF-SEM is relatively straightforward and is becoming routine in high-end resolution studies of embryonic structures in vivo. In this review, we discuss the emergence of SBF-SEM as a tool for studying embryonic vertebrate development.
基因调控、信号通路和干细胞生物学的研究极大地促进了我们对脊椎动物早期胚胎发育的理解。然而，对于胚胎发育后半期的事件我们了解得要少得多，这一时期主要由细胞外基质（ECM）构成的组织开始形成。这种基质远远超出了单个细胞的边界，并且难以用传统的生化和分子技术进行研究；因此，在我们对构成成年脊椎动物主体的致密组织的形成和三维（3D）组织的认识上存在重大空白。连续块面扫描电子显微镜（SBF-SEM）有能力以足以研究ECM组织的分辨率对包含众多细胞的组织体积进行成像。此外，曾经光学显微镜操作相对简单，而电子显微镜则在专业实验室进行，现在情况颠倒了；SBF-SEM相对简单，并且在对体内胚胎结构的高端分辨率研究中正在成为常规方法。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了SBF-SEM作为研究脊椎动物胚胎发育工具的出现。
