Journal of Electron Microscopy Advance Access originally published online on June 14, 2006
Journal of Electron Microscopy 2006 55(3):151-155; doi:10.1093/jmicro/dfl015
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The visualization of hepatic vasculature by X-ray micro-computed tomography


1 Australian Key Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis (AKCMM), Electron Microscope Unit, The University of Sydney NSW 2006, Australia
2 Abdominal Transplant Surgery Department, Centre of Experimental Surgery and Anaesthesia, Catholic University of Leuven Leuven 3000, Belgium
*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: filip.braet{at}emu.usyd.edu.au
In this study, X-ray micro-computed tomography (CT) was used to reconstruct the fine structure macro- and microvasculature in three dimensions in contrast-enhanced rat liver samples. The subsequent application in the experimental CC531s colorectal cancer model was concurrent with results obtained from confocal microscopy in earlier studies. The en bloc stains osmium tetroxide in combination with uranyl acetate provided an excellent contrasting result for hepatic tissue after a trial of several contrasting agents. X-ray micro-CT allowed us to image the large blood vessels together with the branching sinusoids of hepatic tissue in three dimensions. Furthermore, interruption of the microvasculature was noted when rats were injected with CC531s colorectal cancer cells indicating the presence of hepatic metastases.
Keywords capillaries, colon cancer, CC531s, en bloc staining, liver, 3D-reconstruction, sinusoids
Received 23 December 2005, accepted 8 May 2006