Ultrastructural Mapping of the Zebrafish Gastrointestinal System as a Basis for Experimental Drug Studies

Figure 3

Zebrafish larvae (12 dpf) digestive system imaged using X-ray, LM, and EM (BSEM and TEM). At any positions (here, sections 341, 376, and 431 are shown as examples), micro-CT images and model can be viewed as cross-sections. Corresponding LM images of toluidine blue stained sections (500 nm) can be retrieved by mean of measuring distances from recognisable organs in the X-ray data. Back-scattered SEM images are generated from the same sections as the LM sections. TEM images are generated from adjacent sections from the LM ones. Colour code for micro-CT model: swim bladder (yellow), pancreas (green), intestine (pink), and liver (blue). Colour code for EM images: hepatocyte (blue), islet of Langerhans (green), and intestinal brush border (pink). Scale bars = 100 μm (micro-CT) and 2 μm (TEM).