Cryogenic X-ray microscopy for 3D brain nanoimaging
Abstract
Cryogenic microscopy enables investigation of frozen-hydrated tissues that maintain their near-native state, preserving ultrastructural morphology and chemistry close to the living state. Breakthroughs in cryo-electron microscopy have changed how structural biology and neurobiology can be studied. In-situ cryo-ET measurements are typically conducted in thin sections of 100-300 nanometers at resolutions of 1-10 nm. Here we present a cryogenic X-ray nanotomography method that enables imaging tissue volumes with thickness in the range of one hundred micrometers, covering volumes five orders of magnitude larger, at voxel sizes of few tens of nanometers. In a gigavoxel brain tissue volume imaged at 50 nm, we achieve dense segmentation and quantification of axons and cell morphologies. At 30 nm, we conduct joint analysis of astrocytic processes, vascular contacts and organelles. Cryogenic X-ray fluorescence mapping brings complementary knowledge on the elemental composition, linking ultrastructure and chemistry at the nanoscale. Overall, this method introduces a new range of scales and corelative information for investigation of preserved tissues.
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BibTeX
@misc{benoit2026cryogenic,
title = {{Cryogenic X-ray microscopy for 3D brain nanoimaging}},
author = {Lucas Benoit and Sébastien Roig and Benoît Gallet and Guérin Valentine and Carmen Aragon and Emma Dusacq and Sylvain Bohic and Alfred Laugros and Peter Cloetens and Alexandra Pacureanu},
howpublished = {HAL},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05789955v2},
note = {CC BY-NC 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Cryogenic X-ray microscopy for 3D brain nanoimaging
AU - Lucas Benoit
AU - Sébastien Roig
AU - Benoît Gallet
AU - Guérin Valentine
AU - Carmen Aragon
AU - Emma Dusacq
AU - Sylvain Bohic
AU - Alfred Laugros
AU - Peter Cloetens
AU - Alexandra Pacureanu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
PB - HAL
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05789955v2
AB - Cryogenic microscopy enables investigation of frozen-hydrated tissues that maintain their near-native state, preserving ultrastructural morphology and chemistry close to the living state. Breakthroughs in cryo-electron microscopy have changed how structural biology and neurobiology can be studied. In-situ cryo-ET measurements are typically conducted in thin sections of 100-300 nanometers at resolutions of 1-10 nm. Here we present a cryogenic X-ray nanotomography method that enables imaging tissue volumes with thickness in the range of one hundred micrometers, covering volumes five orders of magnitude larger, at voxel sizes of few tens of nanometers. In a gigavoxel brain tissue volume imaged at 50 nm, we achieve dense segmentation and quantification of axons and cell morphologies. At 30 nm, we conduct joint analysis of astrocytic processes, vascular contacts and organelles. Cryogenic X-ray fluorescence mapping brings complementary knowledge on the elemental composition, linking ultrastructure and chemistry at the nanoscale. Overall, this method introduces a new range of scales and corelative information for investigation of preserved tissues.
ER -