Advantages of the Compresstome®

  • Lots of viable cells: More viable cells enabling better experiments.
  • Consistent slice thickness: Provide consistent experiment results with consistent thickness.
  • Easy to maintain: Auto-Zero-Z means Zero-Z with no calibration needed.
  • Easy to learn: Many labs get great slices with many viable cells on first or second try with the Compresstome.

Problems with traditional vibrating microtomes

  • Tissue/cell damage: Tissue tearing and shredding from the slow cutting can cause significant cell damage to tissues/cells, especially at the surface layers.
  • Maintenance and calibration: Need time consuming maintenance requiring specialized knowledge or could lead to degrading performance.
  • Steep learning curve: Requires A LOT of practice to perfect, particularly for users who are new to tissue preparation.

PRECISION-CUT TISSUE SLICESPrecision-cut tissue slices (PCTS) are three-dimensional (3D) tissue explants that can be cultured ex vivo for additional studies of physiology, toxicology, and enzyme functions. Precision-cut tissue slices are typically made from human or animal organs, like lung, liver, kidney, etc. Tissue slices were first made by hand cutting with razor blades, but microtomes now help section PCTS that are consistent in thicknesses and have increased viability. Precision-cut tissue slices retain the anatomical architecture of the organ, cells in their original tissue-matrix configuration, metabolic activity, tissue homeostasis, and more. Thus, PCTS are a popular model for toxicological and pharmaceutical research because they closely recapitulate in vivo conditions. One area where PCTS is particularly useful is in respiratory research, where precision-cut lung slices (PCLS) allow for studying host-pathogen interactions.

Recommended Models

Not sure which model is right for your needs?

Real lab examples

Play Video

Using the Compresstome® in Immunotherapy Research

Dr Astero Klampatsa (PhD) is a Team Leader in Cancer Immunotherapy at the Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK and a Senior Lecturer in King’s College London, UK. She focuses on developing novel CAR T cell therapies for mesothelioma and lung cancer, as well as the immunobiology of these malignancies for identification of markers of response to immunotherapy. In this webinar, Dr. Klampatsa will discuss how the Compresstome® was used to create precision-cut tumor slices (PCTS) as an ex vivo model for immunotherapy research.

Play Video

Making Precision-Cut Tissue Slices for Ex Vivo Assay Services

Visikol is a contract research services company focused on leveraging advanced imaging, 3D cell culture assays and digital pathology to accelerate the drug discovery and development process. In this webinar, Visikol explains the need for in vitro liver models to study livery injury. They demonstrate the standard assay format for creating precision-cut liver slices (PCLS), and explain how the Compresstome® VF-310-0Z vibrating microtome helps create uniform tissue slices that can be meaningfully compared between treatments. Visikol goes through how to use the Compresstome® step-by-step for making PCLS.

Play Video

Immunology and Infection: The Compresstome® for Precision-Cut Lung Slices

The Compresstome® has been widely used by researchers worldwide for making precision-cut lung slices (PCLS). The Compresstome® uses agarose embedding prior to slicing to allow for the preservation of open alveoli and better tissue compliance. The video above shows Compresstome® sectioning PCLS for immunostaining to visualize the localization of various immune cell types in the lung. This protocol can be extended to visualize the location and function of many different cell types under a variety of conditions.

Play Video

Slicing up the tumor: Lessons from attempted lung tumor slice cultures

Dr. Tsilingiri is working on tumor immunotherapy and using the Compresstome vibrating microtome to examine the interaction between tumor tissues and autologous lymph node cells in slice cultures. This work is being carried out in the frame of an EU-funded Consortium, Tumour-LNoC (Tumour-Lymph node on a chip), with the ultimate goal of mimicking the metastatic process on a chip and monitor metastasizing cells in real time.

Play Video

Precision cut lung slices (PCLS): A novel ex vivo model to study lung disease

Dr. Koziol-White showcased the versatility of the precision cut lung slice system that she has developed and utilized to study airway function for almost two decades.

Play Video

Precision cut lung slices (PCLS) for probing mechanisms of pulmonary fibrosis

Dr. Claudia Loebel’s research involves the development of PCLS to probe mechanisms of early epithelial cell differentiation during lung injury and fibrosis.

Play Video

Spatiotemporal Coordination of Stem Cell Behavior Following Alveolar Injury

Dr. Chioccioli:

  • Described motility of alveolar stem cells as a new injury response mechanism in the lung and reveal properties of stem cell motility at high cellular resolution
  • Explained early highly dynamic behavior of AT2 cells post injury, including migration within and between alveoli
  • Characterized the emergence of at least three distinct morphokinetic AT2 cell states associated with AT2 stem cell injury response
  • Shown how small molecule-based inhibition of Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) pathway significantly reduced motility of AT2 stem cells following injury and reduced expression of Krt8, a known marker of intermediate progenitor cells

PCLS (Liver) References

Ko J, Wilkovitsch M, Oh J, Kohler RH, Bolli E, Pittet MJ, Vinegoni C, Sykes DB, Mikula H, Weissleder R, Carlson JCT. Spatiotemporal multiplexed immunofluorescence imaging of living cells and tissues with bioorthogonal cycling of fluorescent probes. Nat Biotechnol. 2022 Nov;40(11):1654-1662. Epub 2022 Jun 2. PMID: 35654978; PMCID: PMC9669087. Download PDF

Liu P, Dodson M, Li H, Schmidlin CJ, Shakya A, Wei Y, Garcia JGN, Chapman E, Kiela PR, Zhang QY, White E, Ding X, Ooi A, Zhang DD. Non-canonical NRF2 activation promotes a pro-diabetic shift in hepatic glucose metabolism. Mol Metab. 2021 Sep;51:101243. Epub 2021 Apr 30. PMID: 33933676; PMCID: PMC8164084. Download PDF

Weidinger A, Dungel P, Perlinger M, Singer K, Ghebes C, Duvigneau JC, Müllebner A, Schäfer U, Redl H, Kozlov AV. Experimental data suggesting that inflammation mediated rat liver mitochondrial dysfunction results from secondary hypoxia rather than from direct effects of inflammatory mediators. Front Physiol. 2013 Jun 7;4:138. PMID: 23760194; PMCID: PMC3675332. Download PDF

See more

PCLS (Lung) References

Agraval H, Crue T, Schaunaman N, Numata M, Day BJ, Chu HW. Electronic Cigarette Exposure Increases the Severity of Influenza a Virus Infection via TRAIL Dysregulation in Human Precision-Cut Lung Slices. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Feb 21;24(5):4295. PMID: 36901724; PMCID: PMC10002047. Download PDF

Ahn S, Maarsingh H, Walker JK, Liu SW, Hegde A, Sumajit HC, Kahsai AW, Lefkowitz RJ. Allosteric modulator potentiates β2AR agonist-promoted bronchoprotection in asthma models. J Clin Invest. 2023 Jul 11:e167337. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37432742. Download PDF

Lam M, Lamanna E, Organ L, Donovan C, Bourke JE. Perspectives on precision cut lung slices-powerful tools for investigation of mechanisms and therapeutic targets in lung diseases. Front Pharmacol. 2023 May 16;14:1162889. PMID: 37261291; PMCID: PMC10228656. Download PDF

See more

PCTS (Intestines) References

Aggarwal N, Deerhake ME, DiPalma D, Shahi SK, Gaggioli MR, Mangalam AK, Shinohara ML. Secreted osteopontin from CD4<sup>+</sup> T cells limits acute graft-versus-host disease. Cell Rep. 2021 Dec 28;37(13):110170. PMID: 34965439; PMCID: PMC8759344. Download PDF

Lu P, Chen J, Zhang C, Saur D, Baer CE, Lifshitz LM, Fogarty KE, ZhuGe R. Oscillating calcium signals in smooth muscle cells underlie the persistent basal tone of internal anal sphincter. J Cell Physiol. 2021 Aug;236(8):5937-5952. Epub 2021 Jan 16. PMID: 33452672; PMCID: PMC8132622. Download PDF

McCarthy CM, Allardyce JM, Hickey SE, Walsh MT, McGourty KD, Mulvihill JJE. Comparison of macroscale and microscale mechanical properties of fresh and fixed-frozen porcine colonic tissue. J Mech Behav Biomed Mater. 2023 Feb;138:105599. Epub 2022 Nov 26. PMID: 36462287. Download PDF

See more

PCTS (Kidney) References

Charrin E, Dabaghie D, Sen I, Unnersjö-Jess D, Möller-Hackbarth K, Burmakin M, Mencke R, Zambrano S, Patrakka J, Olauson H. Soluble Klotho protects against glomerular injury through regulation of ER stress response. Commun Biol. 2023 Feb 22;6(1):208. PMID: 36813870; PMCID: PMC9947099. Download PDF

Ferreira P, Vaja R, Lopes-Pires M, Crescente M, Yu H, Nüsing R, Liu B, Zhou Y, Yaqoob M, Zhang A, Rickman M, Longhurst H, White WE, Knowles RB, Chan MV, Warner TD, Want E, Kirkby NS, Mitchell JA. Renal Function Underpins the Cyclooxygenase-2: Asymmetric Dimethylarginine Axis in Mouse and Man. Kidney Int Rep. 2023 Mar 23;8(6):1231-1238. PMID: 37284684; PMCID: PMC10239776. Download PDF

Han Z, Rao JS, Ramesh S, Hergesell J, Namsrai BE, Etheridge ML, Finger EB, Bischof JC. Model-Guided Design and Optimization of CPA Perfusion Protocols for Whole Organ Cryopreservation. Ann Biomed Eng. 2023 Jun 23. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37351756. Download PDF

See more

PCTS (Pancreas) References

Curiel-Garcia A, Decker-Farrell AR, Sastra SA, Olive KP. Generation of orthotopic patient- derived xenograft models for pancreatic cancer using tumor slices. STAR Protoc. 2022 Dec 16;3(4):101899. Epub 2022 Dec 12. PMID: 36595938; PMCID: PMC9768417. Download PDF

PCTS (Spleen) References

Barclay WE, Aggarwal N, Deerhake ME, Inoue M, Nonaka T, Nozaki K, Luzum NA, Miao EA, Shinohara ML. The AIM2 inflammasome is activated in astrocytes during the late phase of EAE. JCI Insight. 2022 Apr 22;7(8):e155563. PMID: 35451371; PMCID: PMC9089781. Download PDF

Finetti F, Capitani N, Manganaro N, Tatangelo V, Libonati F, Panattoni G, Calaresu I, Ballerini L, Baldari CT, Patrussi L. Optimization of Organotypic Cultures of Mouse Spleen for Staining and Functional Assays. Front Immunol. 2020 Mar 24;11:471. PMID: 32265925; PMCID: PMC7105700. Download PDF

Li S, Folkvord JM, Rakasz EG, Abdelaal HM, Wagstaff RK, Kovacs KJ, Kim HO, Sawahata R, MaWhinney S, Masopust D, Connick E, Skinner PJ. Simian Immunodeficiency Virus-Producing Cells in Follicles Are Partially Suppressed by CD8+ Cells In Vivo. J Virol. 2016 Nov 28;90(24):11168-11180. PMID: 27707919; PMCID: PMC5126374. Download PDF

See more

Call Now Button617-682-0586