Fig. 7
U-ExM preserves salivary gland anatomical structure and ultrastructure. Mosquito salivary glands were prepared by U-ExM, or left unexpanded, stained with SYTOX (cyan, DNA), NHS ester Alexa Fluor 405 (greyscale, protein density), wheat germ agglutinin Texas red (WGA (yellow, chitin & glycans), and BODIPY FL-Ceramide (magenta, lipids), and imaged by Airyscan Microscopy. In U-ExM salivary glands, all anatomical features were preserved including secretory cavity, and both the distal (d) and proximal (p) regions of the medial lobe (ML) and lateral lobes (LL). Zoomed in regions of a distal lateral lobe (dLL2, magenta), the distal medial lobe (dML, orange), and a proximal lateral lobe (pLL2, green) show their ultrastructural preservation and the clear distinction between the epithelial cell cytoplasm (ec) and secretory cavity (sc). Proximal and distal are indicated on zoomed regions to show their orientation. Note that the unexpanded salivary gland is not the same salivary gland prepared by U-ExM. Number in the bottom corner of each image indicates z-projection depth in µm. obj. = objective lens. Scale bars: white = 500 µm, magenta = 50 µm, green = 10 µm