An open-access volume electron microscopy atlas of whole cells and tissues

Understanding cellular architecture is essential for understanding biology. Electron microscopy (EM) uniquely visualizes cellular structures with nanometre resolution. However, traditional methods, such as thin-section EM or EM tomography, have limitations in that they visualize only a single slice or a relatively small volume of the cell, respectively. Focused ion beam-scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM) has demonstrated the ability to image small volumes of cellular samples with 4-nm isotropic voxels(1). Owing to advances in the precision and stability of FIB milling, together with enhanced signal detection and faster SEM scanning, we have increased the volume that can be imaged with 4-nm voxels by two orders of magnitude. Here we present a volume EM atlas at such resolution comprising ten three-dimensional datasets for whole cells and tissues, including cancer cells, immune cells, mouse pancreatic islets and Drosophila neural tissues. These open access data (via OpenOrganelle(2)) represent the foundation of a field of high-resolution whole-cell volume EM and subsequent analyses, and we invite researchers to explore this atlas and pose questions. Open-access 3D images of whole cells and tissues with combined finer resolution and larger sample size are enabled by advances in focused ion beam-scanning electron microscopy.

Automated summary

Advancements in Focused Ion Beam-Scanning Electron Microscopy have enabled high-resolution imaging of small volumes of cellular samples with isotropic voxels. This technology has allowed for the creation of a high-resolution volume EM atlas containing multiple three-dimensional datasets for various cell types, facilitating further research and analysis in the field of cellular architecture.