Expansion microscopy in honeybee brains for high-resolution neuroanatomical analyses in social insects.

ABSTRACT: The diffraction limit of light microscopy poses a problem that is frequently faced in structural analyses of social insect brains. With the introduction of expansion microscopy (ExM), a tool became available to overcome this limitation by isotropic physical expansion of preserved specimens. Our analyses focus on synaptic microcircuits (microglomeruli, MG) in the mushroom body (MB) of social insects, high-order brain centers for sensory integration, learning, and memory. MG undergo significant structural reorganizations with age, sensory experience, and during long-term memory formation. However, the changes in subcellular architecture involved in this plasticity have only partially been accessed yet. Using the western honeybee Apis mellifera as an experimental model, we established ExM for

SUBMITTER: Kraft N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10484815 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature