Resource Development Core

Project Summary/Abstract (Resource Development Core) The Resource Development Core will focus on developing technologies to help renal investigators realize the potential of quantitative, large-scale microscopy as a tool for understanding kidney function and disease. Methods of tissue clearing provide researchers with the ability to image the entire mouse kidney, presenting the opportunity to identify and characterize the entire population of cells in the context of their full three-dimensional organization and relationship. However, there are technical challenges that hinder the wide- spread implementation of large-scale, high-resolution microscopy as an effective research tool. The Resource Development Core will address these challenges through (1) the development of a unique multi-scale/multi- resolution approach to large-scale imaging of the rodent and human kidney based upon a novel hybrid open- top lightsheet microscope system (2) the development of cutting-edge methods of automated image analysis and (3) the development of methods for integrating imaging and transcriptomic data for combined analyses. Methods developed here will be continuously incorporated into the services of the Molecular Imaging Core and disseminated in publications, online repositories and through the IU O’Brien Microscopy Workshop.