An optimized method to visualize lipid droplets in mouse brain tissue.

Overview

Authors: Alicia Rey¹, Francesco Petrelli¹, Diana Panfilova¹, Sofia Madsen¹, Noéline Héritier¹, Marlen Knobloch¹

ORCID iDs: Francesco Petrelli, Sofia Madsen, Marlen Knobloch

Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland

Institutions: University of Lausanne (Switzerland)

Journal: Cell reports methods, volume 6, issue 6, article 101455

Dates: received 19 July 2024; accepted 14 April 2026; published online 13 May 2026; in print June 2026

Type: Research article · Language: English

License: CC BY

Identifiers: DOI 10.1016/j.crmeth.2026.101455 · PMID 42134320 · PMCID PMC13282654 · OpenAlex W7161170443

Open access: gold, a free copy (OpenAlex)

Status: code on request

Categories: histology / microscopy (modality), mouse (organism), methods / tools (subfield)

Methods: Statistics

Keywords: lipid droplets, brain, neuroscience, lipophilic dyes, BD493/503, perilipin, staining, aging, autofluorescence

MeSH: Brain*, Lipid Droplets*, Aging, Animals, Fluorescent Dyes, Mice, Mice, Inbred C57BL (* major topic)

Topic: Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis (Biochemistry, Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology), according to OpenAlex

Funding: UNIL (Université de Lausanne); Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung (Swiss National Science Foundation) (31003A_175570)

Citations: not cited yet (Europe PMC); 42 references in the paper

Research resources: Rabbit Anti-Rab7 Monoclonal, clone D95F2 RRID:AB_1904103, Rabbit Polyclonal Perilipin-2 antibody RRID:AB_2223599, Mouse Anti-NeuN Antibody, clone A60 RRID:AB_2298772, RRID:AB_2313584, RRID:AB_2340433, RRID:AB_2340621, RRID:AB_2340862, RRID:AB_2492288, RRID:AB_2722750, RRID:AB_477035, RRID:AB_477499, Rabbit Anti-OLIG2 Polyclonal antibody RRID:AB_570666, RRID:AB_775978, Rabbit Anti-MAP1LC3B Polyclonal antibody RRID:AB_796155, Rabbit Anti-IBA1 RRID:AB_839504, RRID:AB_945213, GraphPad Prism RRID:SCR_002798, ImageJ RRID:SCR_003070, Imaris RRID:SCR_007370, 4′, 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) RRID:SCR_013672, ilastik RRID:SCR_015246, RRID:SCR_020293

Abstract

Lipid droplets (LDs) are lipid-storage organelles that have gained interest in neurodegenerative diseases, yet their physiological role in the brain is not fully understood. Classical LD detection using lipophilic dyes like BODIPY 493/503 (BD493) or antibodies against LD coat proteins typically reveals few LDs in healthy brain tissue. In contrast, our recently developed endogenous LD-reporter mouse showed numerous LDs in the developing and adult brain without staining. To understand this discrepancy, we examined how tissue preparation and detergent influence LD detection. We found that BD493 performs poorly in brain tissue, whereas other lipophilic dyes allow visualization of many LDs. Antibody-based detection is sensitive to tissue pretreatment but can reveal similar LD numbers as the LD-reporter mouse. We here present an optimized protocol, demonstrating that LDs are abundant in healthy young and aged brains, with larger LDs in aged mice. However, LD detection in aged brains requires caution due to strong LD-like autofluorescence.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Code

The paper says that its authors' code is available on request: it was not published with the paper, so there is nothing to verify.

The paper's code and data availability statement is in the Data section.

Tracing map

A tracing map links a paper to the code its authors published: this paper has none (its code is available on request), so it has no map.

Data

No dataset and no data link were found in the paper.

Data and code availability

• All data reported in this paper will be shared by the lead contact upon request. • This paper does not report original code. • Any additional information required to reanalyze the data reported in this paper is available from the lead contact upon request.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Versions

The history of this record: each version stored by the harvester or made by a correction of its authors or of the maintainers of its code, and what changed in its facts. The texts of the paper (its abstract, its availability statements) are not part of it; versions that changed only those are not listed.

Version 1, 28 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 6 authors, 9 keywords, 7 MeSH terms, 2 funders, 42 references, 22 RRIDs.

Cite

This paper

Rey, A., Petrelli, F., Panfilova, D., Madsen, S., Héritier, N., & Knobloch, M. (2026). An optimized method to visualize lipid droplets in mouse brain tissue. Cell reports methods, 6(6), 101455. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crmeth.2026.101455

BibTeX

@article{rey2026optimized, author = {Rey, Alicia and Petrelli, Francesco and Panfilova, Diana and Madsen, Sofia and Héritier, Noéline and Knobloch, Marlen}, title = {{An optimized method to visualize lipid droplets in mouse brain tissue}}, journal = {Cell reports methods}, year = {2026}, month = may, volume = {6}, number = {6}, pages = {101455}, publisher = {Elsevier}, issn = {2667-2375}, doi = {10.1016/j.crmeth.2026.101455}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crmeth.2026.101455}, pmid = {42134320}, pmcid = {PMC13282654} }

RIS

TY - JOUR AU - Rey, Alicia AU - Petrelli, Francesco AU - Panfilova, Diana AU - Madsen, Sofia AU - Héritier, Noéline AU - Knobloch, Marlen TI - An optimized method to visualize lipid droplets in mouse brain tissue T2 - Cell reports methods J2 - Cell Rep Methods PY - 2026 DA - 2026/05/13 VL - 6 IS - 6 SP - 101455 SN - 2667-2375 PB - Elsevier DO - 10.1016/j.crmeth.2026.101455 UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crmeth.2026.101455 LA - en ER -

CSL-JSON

{ "id": "10.1016/j.crmeth.2026.101455", "type": "article-journal", "title": "An optimized method to visualize lipid droplets in mouse brain tissue", "container-title": "Cell reports methods", "author": [ { "family": "Rey", "given": "Alicia" }, { "family": "Petrelli", "given": "Francesco" }, { "family": "Panfilova", "given": "Diana" }, { "family": "Madsen", "given": "Sofia" }, { "family": "Héritier", "given": "Noéline" }, { "family": "Knobloch", "given": "Marlen" } ], "container-title-short": "Cell Rep Methods", "volume": "6", "issue": "6", "page": "101455", "DOI": "10.1016/j.crmeth.2026.101455", "PMID": "42134320", "PMCID": "PMC13282654", "ISSN": "2667-2375", "publisher": "Elsevier", "URL": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crmeth.2026.101455", "language": "en", "issued": { "date-parts": [ [ 2026, 5, 13 ] ] } }

Contribute

The authors of this paper can claim it, correct its record and validate its tracing map, and the maintainers of its code (its owner, or a public member of its organization) correct what it says of their repository; anyone signed in can ask for its removal. Every request goes to OSCR's own machine, which answers it; your account page follows them.

Sign in with ORCID to claim this paper as one of its authors, correct its record or validate its tracing map: when the paper's metadata lists your ORCID iD, you are recognized at once. Maintainers of its code: sign in with GitHub, then claim the repository on your account page.

Request its removal

To ask OSCR to remove this record, the copies of its authors' scripts or its tracing map, use the removal request page: signed in, you say who you are, what to remove and why, then review and confirm the request. Published rules decide every request (how).

Discussion, reproductions, activity

Discussion: questions and error reports about this paper and its code, from signed-in readers and its authors. It opens with sign-in.

Reproductions: reports from readers who ran the authors' code: what they reproduced, with which environment, commit and data. It opens with sign-in.

Activity: what happens around this paper: new versions of its record, its map's validation, discussions and reproductions. It opens with sign-in.