WildDISCO provides Online Body Maps for the Scientific Community
Using wildDISCO, the researchers were able to create detailed maps of cellular structures leading to entire mouse body atlases, focusing on the nervous system, lymphatic vessels, blood vessels, and immune cells. With this approach, they already discovered that the gut microbiome plays a significant role in the development of the enteric nervous system. They also mapped tumor-associated lymphoid structures (TLS) in relation to breast cancer spread which will provide insights into how these structures affect the immune response to tumors.
Furthermore, these atlases are not just in use at Helmholtz Munich but display a significant impact on the whole scientific community. Therefore, the high-resolution images are available on their website as online atlases. First authors Dr. Hongcheng Mai and Dr. Jie Luo from the Ertürk lab at Helmholtz Munich emphasize the benefits of whole-body atlases: "Our online atlases have already generated data for published papers. Other scientists have obtained critical data from our atlases, saving time, resources, and reducing animal use."
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The method can already facilitate modeling of complex biological systems and diseases by for example outlining the path of cancer metastasis and whether the designed treatments reach every single cancer micrometastasis. Currently, the Helmholtz Munich team works on further enhancing wildDISCO's capabilities. The scientists envision that in the future the technology allows for instance the simultaneous use of numerous antibodies to enable the modeling of multiple-complex systems together.
In addition to that, the high-quality, large-scale imaging data generated by wildDISCO is what is needed for the training of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, which thrive on large data sets. “Now imagine what we can do with these maps when you combine them with the power of deep learning”, says Ertürk. The team is committed to harnessing the power of AI to simulate complex biological systems, with the ultimate goal of understanding diseases and developing new treatments more efficiently via computational predictions without the need for further animal experiments.
Reference: Mai H, Luo J, Hoeher L, et al. Whole-body cellular mapping in mouse using standard IgG antibodies. Nat Biotechnol. 2023. doi: 10.1038/s41587-023-01846-0
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