Welcome to the Amira-Avizo Software Use Case Gallery
Below you will find a collection of use cases of our 3D data visualization and analysis software. These use cases include scientific publications, articles, papers, posters, presentations or even videos that show how Amira-Avizo Software is used to address various scientific and industrial research topics.
Use the Domain selector to filter by main application area, and use the Search box to enter keywords related to specific topics you are interested in.
Protocols for Generating Surfaces and Measuring 3D Organelle Morphology Using Amira
High-resolution 3D images of organelles are of paramount importance in cellular biology. Although light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) have provided the standard for imaging cellular structures, they cannot provide 3D images.
However, recent technological advances such as serial block-face scanning electron microscopy (SBF-SEM) and focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM) provide the tools to create 3D images for the ultrastructural analysis of org... Read more
Edgar Garza-Lopez, Zer Vue, Prasanna Katti, Kit Neikirk, Michelle Biete, Jacob Lam, Heather K. Beasley, Andrea G. Marshall, Taylor A. Rodman, Trace A. Christensen, Jeffrey L. Salisbury, Larry Vang, Margaret Mungai, Salma Ash Shareef, Sandra A. Murray, Jianqiang Shao, Jennifer Streeter, Brian Glancy, Renata O. Pereira1, E. Dale Abel, and Antentor Hinton, Jr.
The molecular basis for sarcomere organization in vertebrate skeletal muscle
Sarcomeres are force-generating and load-bearing devices of muscles. A precise molecular picture of how sarcomeres are built underpins understanding their role in health and disease. Here, we determine the molecular architecture of native vertebrate skeletal sarcomeres by electron cryo-tomography.
Our reconstruction reveals molecular details of the three-dimensional organization and interaction of actin and myosin in the A-band, I-band, and Z-disc and demonstrates that α-actinin cros... Read more
Zhexin Wang, Michael Grange, Thorsten Wagner, Ay Lin Kho, Mathias Gautel, Stefan Raunser
Automatic whole cell organelle segmentation in volumetric electron microscopy
Cells contain hundreds of different organelle and macromolecular assemblies intricately organized relative to each other to meet any cellular demands. Obtaining a complete understanding of their organization is challenging and requires nanometer-level, three-dimensional reconstruction of whole cells. Even then, the immense size of datasets and large number of structures to be characterized requires generalizable, automatic methods.
To meet this challenge, we developed an analy... Read more
Larissa Heinrich, Davis Bennett, David Ackerman, Woohyun Park, John Bogovic, View ORCID ProfileNils Eckstein, Alyson Petruncio, Jody Clements, C. Shan Xu, Jan Funke, Wyatt Korff, Harald F. Hess, Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz, Stephan Saalfeld, Aubrey V. Weigel, COSEM Project Team
Malignant cells are surrounded by a complex and supportive tumor microenvironment that consists of immune cells, extracellular matrix, vasculature, and fibroblasts. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF) are the major cell type in the reactive stroma and are known to promote tumorigenesis and metastasis. Fibroblast activation protein alpha (FAP) is a transmembrane serine protease expressed by CAFs in the microenvironment of epithelial tumors.
Meta-analysis of FAP expression and clinical ... Read more
Hallie M. Hintz, Joseph P. Gallant, Donald J. Vander Griend, Ilsa M. Coleman, Peter S. Nelson and Aaron M. LeBeau
Osteocytes are the most frequent bone cells connected with each other through cell processes within tiny tubular-shaped canaliculi. The so-called osteocyte lacunar-canalicular network (LCN) plays a crucial role in bone remodeling and mineral homeostasis. Given the critical nature of these functions, it is herein hypothesized that the LCN must be structurally “overengineered” to provide network resilience.
This hypothesis is tested by characterizing canalicular networks in human bon... Read more
Emely Bortel, Liam M Grover, Neil Eisenstein, Christian Seim, Heikki Suhonen, Alexandra Pacureanu, Peter Westenberger, Kay Raum, Max Langer, Francoise Peyrin, Owen Addison, Bernhard Hesse
Precise methods for quantifying drug accumulation in brain tissue are currently very limited, challenging the development of new therapeutics for brain disorders. Transcardial perfusion is instrumental for removing the intravascular fraction of an injected compound, thereby allowing for ex vivo assessment of extravasation into the brain. However, pathological remodeling of tissue microenvironment can affect the efficiency of transcardial perfusion, which has been largely overlooked.
We... Read more
Serhii Kostrikov, Kasper B. Johnsen, Thomas H. Braunstein, Johann M. Gudbergsson, Frederikke P. Fliedner, Elisabeth A. A. Obara, Petra Hamerlik, Anders E. Hansen, Andreas Kjaer, Casper Hempel & Thomas L. Andresen
Adipose models have been applied to mechanistic studies of metabolic diseases (such as diabetes) and the subsequent discovery of new therapeutics. However, typical models are either insufficiently complex (2D cell cultures) or expensive and labor intensive (mice/in vivo). To bridge the gap between these models and in order to better inform pre-clinical studies we have developed a drug-responsive 3D model of white adipose tissue (WAT).
Here, spheroids (680 ± 60 μm) comp... Read more
Alexander D Graham, Rajesh Pandey, Viktoriya S Tsancheva, Alessia Candeo, Stanley W Botchway, Alasdair J Allan, Lydia Teboul4, Kamel Madi, Tahkur S Babra, Louisa A K Zolkiewski, Xuan Xue, Liz Bentley, Joan Gannon, Sam N Olof and Roger D Cox
Integrative Imaging Reveals SARS-CoV-2-Induced Reshaping of Subcellular Morphologies
Cortese et al. use integrative imaging techniques to generate a publicly available repository of morphological alterations induced by SARS-CoV-2 in lung cells. Accumulation of ER-derived double-membrane vesicles, the viral replication organelle, occurs concomitantly with cytoskeleton remodeling and Golgi fragmentation. Pharmacological alteration of cytoskeleton dynamics restricts viral replication and spread.
Pathogenesis induced by SARS-CoV-2 is thought to result from both an inflamma... Read more
Mirko Cortese, Ji-Young Lee, Berati Cerikan, ..., Laurent Chatel-Chaix, Yannick Schwab, Ralf Bartenschlager
Loss of adult skeletal muscle stem cells drives age-related neuromuscular junction degeneration
Neuromuscular junction degeneration is a prominent aspect of sarcopenia, the age-associated loss of skeletal muscle integrity. Previously, we showed that muscle stem cells activate and contribute to mouse neuromuscular junction regeneration in response to denervation (Liu et al., 2015). Here, we examined gene expression profiles and neuromuscular junction integrity in aged mouse muscles, and unexpectedly found limited denervation despite a high level of degenerated neuromuscular junctions. In... Read more
Wenxuan Liu, Alanna Klose, Sophie Forman, Nicole D Paris, Lan Wei-LaPierre, Mariela Cortés-Lopéz, Aidi Tan, Morgan Flaherty, Pedro Miura, Robert T Dirksen, Joe V Chakkalakal
Impact of physical confinement on nuclei geometry and cell division dynamics in 3D spheroids
Multicellular tumour spheroids are used as a culture model to reproduce the 3D architecture, proliferation gradient and cell interactions of a tumour micro-domain. However, their 3D characterization at the cell scale remains challenging due to size and cell density issues. In this study, we developed a methodology based on 3D light sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM) image analysis and convex hull calculation that allows characterizing the 3D shape and orientation of cell nuclei relative to ... Read more
Annaïck Desmaison, Ludivine Guillaume, Sarah Triclin, Pierre Weiss, Bernard Ducommun & Valérie Lobjois
Macroautophagy is morphologically characterized by autophagosome formation. Autophagosomes are double-membraned vesicles that sequester cytoplasmic components for further degradation in the lysosome. Basal autophagy is paramount for intracellular quality control in post-mitotic cells but, surprisingly, the number of autophagosomes in post-mitotic neurons is very low, suggesting that alternative degradative structures could exist in neurons…
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Maria Rosario Fernandez-Fernandez, Desire Ruiz-Garcia, Eva Martin-Solana, Francisco Javier Chichon, Jose L. Carrascosa, Jose-Jesus Fernandez
Recent treatment developments for metastatic renal cell carcinoma offer combinations of immunotherapies or immunotherapy associated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI). There is currently no argument to choose one solution or another. Easy-to-use markers to assess longitudinal responses to TKI are necessary to determine when to switch to immunotherapies. These new markers will enable an earlier adaptation of therapeutic strategy in order to prevent tumor development, unnecessary toxicity an... Read more
Alexandre Ingels, Ingrid Leguerney, Paul-Henry Cournède, Jacques Irani, Sophie Ferlicot, Catherine Sébrié, Baya Benatsou, Laurène Jourdain, Stephanie Pitre-Champagnat, Jean-Jacques Patard & Nathalie Lassau
Influenza A matrix protein M1 is sufficient to induce lipid membrane deformation
The matrix protein M1 of the Influenza A virus is considered to mediate viral assembly and budding at the plasma membrane (PM) of infected cells. In order for a new viral particle to form, the PM lipid bilayer has to bend into a vesicle towards the extracellular side. Studies in cellular models have proposed that different viral proteins might be responsible for inducing membrane curvature in this context (including M1), but a clear consensus has not been reached. In this study, we use a comb... Read more
Ismail Dahmani, Kai Ludwig, Salvatore Chiantia
Multiple membrane extrusion sites drive megakaryocyte migration into bone marrow blood vessels
Platelets, cells central to hemostasis and thrombosis, are formed from parent cell megakaryocytes. Although the process is highly efficient in vivo, our ability to generate them in vitro is still remarkably inefficient. We proposed that greater understanding of the process in vivo is needed and used an imaging approach, intravital correlative light electron microscopy, to visualize platelet generation in bone marrow in the living mouse. In contrast to current understanding, we found that most... Read more
Edward Brown, Leo M Carlin, Claus Nerlov, Cristina Lo Celso, Alastair W Poole
Membrane architecture of pulmonary lamellar bodies revealed by post-correlation on-lamella cryo-CLEM
Lamellar bodies (LBs) are surfactant rich organelles in alveolar type 2 cells. LBs disassemble into a lipid-protein network that reduces surface tension and facilitates gas exchange at the air-water interface in the alveolar cavity. Current knowledge of LB architecture is predominantly based on electron microscopy studies using disruptive sample preparation methods. We established a post-correlation on-lamella cryo-correlative light and electron microscopy approach for cryo-FIB milled lung ce... Read more
Steffen Klein, Benedikt H. Wimmer, Sophie L. Winter, Androniki Kolovou, Vibor Laketa, Petr Chlanda
3D Dissection of Structural Membrane-Wall Contacts in Filamentous Moss Protonemata
Cell-to-cell contact is essential for communication and development of multicellular organisms. A prerequisite is the passage through membranes. That way, molecular exchange and information flow is regulated via hormones, membrane proteins and pores.
In plants, the rigid cell walls prevent large membrane contact areas between protoplasts. Only plasmodesmata, minute channels between adjacent cells, form direct connections. Often, molecular data of the proteins involved are manifold but t... Read more
Dominik Harant and Ingeborg Lang
Asymmetric Centriole Numbers at Spindle Poles Cause Chromosome Missegregation in Cancer
Chromosomal instability is a hallmark of cancer and correlates with the presence of extra centrosomes, which originate from centriole overduplication.
Overduplicated centrioles lead to the formation of centriole rosettes, which mature into supernumerary centrosomes in the subsequent cell cycle. While extra centrosomes promote chromosome missegregation by clustering into pseudo-bipolar spindles, the contribution of centriole rosettes to chromosome missegregation is unknown. We us... Read more
Marco R.Cosenza, Anna Cazzola, Annik Rossberg, Nicole L. Schieber, Gleb Konotop, Elena Bausch, Alla Slynko, Tim Holland-Letz, Marc S.Raab, Taronish Dubash, Hanno Glimm, Sven Poppelreuther, Christel Herold-Mende, Yannick Schwab, Alwin Krämer
Morphology of mitochondria in spatially restricted axons revealed by cryo-electron tomography
Neurons project axons to local and distal sites and can display heterogeneous morphologies with limited physical dimensions that may influence the structure of large organelles such as mitochondria. Using cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET), we characterized native environments within axons and presynaptic varicosities to examine whether spatial restrictions within these compartments influence the morphology of mitochondria. Segmented tomographic reconstructions revealed distinctive morphologi... Read more
Tara D. Fischer, Pramod K. Dash, Jun Liu, M. Neal Waxham
C. elegans chromosomes connect to centrosomes by anchoring into the spindle network
The mitotic spindle ensures the faithful segregation of chromosomes. Here we combine the first large-scale serial electron tomography of whole mitotic spindles in early C. elegans embryos with live-cell imaging to reconstruct all microtubules in 3D and identify their plus- and minus-ends. We classify them as kinetochore (KMTs), spindle (SMTs) or astral microtubules (AMTs) according to their positions, and quantify distinct properties of each class. While our light microscopy and muta... Read more
Stefanie Redemann, Johannes Baumgart, Norbert Lindow, Michael Shelley, Ehssan Nazockdast, Andrea Kratz, Steffen Prohaska, Jan Brugués, Sebastian Fürthauer & Thomas Müller-Reichert
Centrioles are vital cellular structures that form centrosomes and cilia. The formation and function of cilia depends on a set of centriole’s distal appendages. In this study, we use correlative super resolution and electron microscopy to precisely determine where distal appendage proteins localize in relation to the centriole microtubules and appendage electron densities. Here we characterize a novel distal appendage protein ANKRD26 and detail, in high resolution, the initial steps of dist... Read more
Mathew Bowler, Dong Kong, Shufeng Sun, Rashmi Nanjundappa, Lauren Evans, Veronica Farmer, Andrew Holland, Moe R. Mahjoub, Haixin Sui & Jadranka Loncarek
Soluble tubulin is locally enriched at mitotic centrosomes in C. elegans
During mitosis, the centrosome expands its capacity to nucleate microtubules. Understanding the mechanisms of centrosomal microtubule nucleation is, however, constrained by a lack of knowledge of the amount of soluble and polymer tubulin at mitotic centrosomes. Here we combined light microscopy and serial-section electron tomography to measure the amount of dimer and polymer at mitotic centrosomes in early C. elegans embryos. We show that a C. elegans one-cell stage centrosome at metaphase co... Read more
Johannes Baumgart, Marcel Kirchner, Stefanie Redemann, Jeffrey Woodruff, Jean-Marc Verbavatz, Frank Julicher, Anthony Hyman, Thomas Mueller-Reichert, Jan Brugues