Tracking early tuberous sclerosis complex diseased organoid development with quantitative oblique back-illumination microscopy

Abstract

Quantitative oblique back-illumination microscopy (qOBM) is a label-free imaging technique that enables tomographic phase imaging of thick scattering samples with epi-illumination. Here, we apply qOBM to image three-dimensional brain organoid cell cultures of tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) disease. We identify quantitative differences that occur between the TSC organoids and a control cell line, and discuss the implications of these differences on our understanding the development of TSC organoid cultures. These differences include disruptions in the tubular processes in the organoid, a higher degree of folding and non-spherical cell growth, and differences in the proliferating cell structures between the two groups.