Facility
ALICe
State-of-the-art advanced lightsheet imaging center
Lightsheet microscopes can reveal the 3D anatomy of entire small organs. They image brain tissue down to individual neurons and offer unprecedented maps of nervous system structure and function.
ALICe, the Advanced Lightsheet Imaging Center, integrates a series of innovative fluorescence microscopy tools in a single pipeline to image whole organs with custom-built microscopes at high spatial and temporal resolution.
The multidisciplinary ALICe team unites expertise from physics, cell biology, neuroscience and engineering, and joins forces with research teams around the world to image and draw insights into the central and peripheral nervous systems, innervation of organs including the brain and heart as well as human brain samples. Another focus area is brain and spinal cord organization for researchers working to restore movement after paralysis or to investigate neuronal networks involved in cognition, pleasure and drug addiction.
Unlike traditional microscopy in which specimens are cut in slices with a blade before being viewed on a slide under a microscope, lightsheet microscopes optically slice samples with a sheet of light. This optical sectioning captures slivers of image without damaging the sample. The images are then combined to reconstruct a detailed three-dimensional image of a whole organ or specimen.
The ALICe pipeline
ALICe’s capabilities cover the entire pipeline, from sample preparation to image capture and post-processing. A variety of samples can be imaged from organoids to whole organs, labelled with genetically encoded fluorescent proteins or immuno-labeled with fluorescent antibodies.
1) Sample preparation: Tissue clearing for entire large samples
2) Custom-built lightsheet image acquisition: high spatial and temporal resolution imaging
3) Image and data analysis including 3D data-set exploration in virtual reality
Whole CNS lightsheet imaging of motor circuit and 3D surface rendering (Asboth et al. 2018).
Courtine Lab, EPFL
Building connections, one cell at a time
ALICe partnerships
6
Countries
17
Institutions
40
Laboratories
We are always looking for innovative collaborations to advance the techniques, hardware and software related to ALICe.
ALICe Scientific Coordinator: Stéphane Pagès, PhD
Microscopy Facility Manager: Laura Batti, PhD
If you would like to find out more, please contact us: microscopy@wysscenter.ch
Brain wide labelling of glutamatergic projection neurons - Courtine Lab, EPFL
![Holtmaat]()
"Recent advances in microscopy have propelled the neurosciences into the era of connectomics, now allowing us to study single neurons with their synaptic connections in the whole brain."
![D Huber]()
"The work at ALICe allowed us to reveal the distribution and anatomy of sensory receptors with unprecedented resolution and specificity. I was stunned by the quality of the images."
![Marianne Web]()
"Never as now we are able to in-depth visualise and quantify neuronal populations within the entire brain."
Whole CNS lightsheet imaging of motor circuit and 3D surface rendering (Asboth et al. 2018). Courtine Lab, EPFL
Fluorescent interneurons in a whole brain - Fyhn Lab, University of Oslo
Heart innervation, Chatelier Lab - University of Poitiers
Team
Publications
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Jul 2020 Gene Therapy
Maximizing lentiviral vector gene transfer in the CNS, Humbel, M., Ramosaj, M., Zimmer, V. et al.
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Jan 2020 Cell Reports
Neuroinflammation-Associated Aspecific Manipulation of Mouse Predator Fear by Toxoplasma gondii
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Dec 2019 Nature Communications
Goubran, M., Leuze, C., Hsueh, B. et al. Multimodal image registration and connectivity analysis for integration of connectomic data from microscopy to MRI
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Sep 2019 Nature Methods
The mesoSPIM initiative: open-source light-sheet microscopes for imaging cleared tissue
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Mar 2019 Front. Neuroanat - Research Topic
Light Sheet Microscopy: from Technological Developments to Prospective Applications
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Apr 2018 Nature Neuroscience
Cortico-reticulo-spinal Circuit Reorganization Enables Functional Recovery After Severe Spinal Cord Contusion
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Events
Meet the ALICe team at these events
Updates
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16.09.2019
New microscopes to unravel the mysteries of brain organization
Collaboration![Mouse Brain Vasculaturemesospim Org]()
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19.03.2018
Wyss Center microscope reveals brain circuit reorganisation that could help solve paralysis
Collaboration![Nr 8834]()
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15.11.2017
Take a fantastic 3D voyage through the brain with new immersive virtual reality system
Collaboration![Journey Through The Brain In Vr Widescreen]()
