Ultra fast tissue staining with chemical tags

Abstract

Genetically encoded fluorescent proteins and immunostainings are widely used to detect cellular or sub-cellular structures in thick biological samples. However, each approach suffers from limitations, including low signal and limited spectral flexibility or slow speed, poor penetration and high background, respectively. Here we overcome these limitations by using transgenically expressed chemical tags for rapid, even and low-background labeling of thick biological tissues. We construct a platform of widely applicable transgenic Drosophila reporter lines, demonstrating that chemical labeling can accelerate staining of whole-mount fly brains by a factor of 100x. Together, this tag-based approach drastically improves the speed and specificity of labeling genetically marked cells in intact and/or thick biological samples.