Pictures of stroke and cerebral vasculature: novel insights and detailed visualisation of U-shaped elastin distribution and disorganised fibre arrangement at carotid bifurcations by advanced techniques

The bifurcation regions of intracranial and extracranial arteries are common sites for atherosclerosis, predisposing to ischaemic stroke.1 Previous studies have shown that the unique haemodynamics at the bifurcation may lead to alterations in genes and proteins in this region.2 Elastin is closely associated with the progression of atherosclerosis.3 However, under physiological conditions, the expression and distribution of elastin in bifurcation regions have not yet been elucidated. Mice are the most frequently used animal model for studying atherosclerosis. This study focuses on carotid bifurcation, optimising the iDISCO (immunolabeling-enabled three-dimensional imaging of solvent-cleared organs) technique for whole tissue clearing and staining of the carotid …