Super-resolution imaging of amyloid-β plaques and autofluorescence suppression in mouse brains

Abnormal deposition of amyloid-β (Aβ) causes the formation of senile plaques, which is one of the main pathological features of Alzheimer disease. To visualize the plaques at nanometer resolution, single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) is promising. It is also essential to develop a method for suppressing autofluorescence especially under high-magnifications used for detecting single molecules. Here, we report a novel method to reduce autofluorescence in mouse brains which is applicable to visualize the structure of Aβ plaques by SMLM. The super-resolution images of Aβ plaques showed fibrous structures that were not able to be discerned by conventional fluorescence imaging.