Fast 3D Clear: A Fast, Aqueous-Based, Reversible Three-Day Tissue Clearing Method for Adult and Embryonic Mouse Brain and Whole Body
To date, a variety of optical clearing methods have emerged that serve as powerful tools to study intact whole organ anatomy and neuronal circuits. Here we describe a newly developed, aqueous-based clearing protocol named Fast 3D Clear, that relies on THF for tissue dehydration/rehydration and utilizes Histodenz as clearing solution. Fast 3D Clear requires three days to achieve high transparency of adult and embryonic mouse tissues, while maintaining their anatomical integrity, and preserving a vast array of transgenic and viral/dye fluorophores, such as GCaMP3/6, tdTomato, Fast Blue, and IRF670. A unique advantage of Fast 3D Clear is its complete reversibility, and thus compatibility with tissue sectioning and immunohistochemistry. Fast 3D Clear can be easily and quickly applied to a wide range of biomedical studies, thereby greatly facilitating the acquisition of high-resolution, three- and two-dimensional images with light sheet and confocal microscopy.