hFRUIT: An optimized agent for optical clearing of DiI-stained adult human brain tissue.

Here, we describe a new immersion-based clearing method suitable for optical clearing of thick adult human brain samples while preserving its lipids and lipophilic labels such as 1,1'-dioctadecyl-3,3,3',3'-tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate (DiI). This clearing procedure is simple, easy to implement, and allowed for clearing of 5 mm thick human brain tissue samples within 12 days. Furthermore, we show for the first time the advantageous effect of the Periodate-Lysine-Paraformaldehyde (PLP) fixation as compared to the more commonly used 4% paraformaldehyde (PFA) on clearing performance.

Changes in the allocation of endogenous strigolactone improve plant biomass production on phosphate-poor soils.

Strigolactones (SLs) are carotenoid-derived phytohormones shaping plant architecture and inducing the symbiosis with endomycorrhizal fungi. In Petunia hybrida, SL transport within the plant and towards the rhizosphere is driven by the ABCG-class protein PDR1. PDR1 expression is regulated by phytohormones and by the soil phosphate abundance, and thus SL transport integrates plant development with nutrient conditions.

3D high-content screening for the identification of compounds that target cells in dormant tumor spheroid regions.

Cancer cells in poorly vascularized tumor regions need to adapt to an unfavorable metabolic microenvironment. As distance from supplying blood vessels increases, oxygen and nutrient concentrations decrease and cancer cells react by stopping cell cycle progression and becoming dormant. As cytostatic drugs mainly target proliferating cells, cancer cell dormancy is considered as a major resistance mechanism to this class of anti-cancer drugs.