Reconstruction of Mammary Gland Structure Using Three-Dimensional Computer-Based Microscopy

We have developed a three-dimensional computer-based quantitative microscopy platform to be applied to simultaneous morphological and molecular studies of both normal and neoplastic mammary tissue. Using our system, we can reconstruct relevant microscopic tissue structures e.g. mammary ducts, lobules, lymph nodes, tumor masses, etc. from consecutive thin tissue sections. Then, using 3D virtual reconstruction, we can perform quantitative morphological measurements combined with directed-structure defined-high resolution analysis of molecular events. The system will be applied to study the role of hormones in normal vs. neoplastic mammary gland Biology. So far, we have tested our system fully reconstructing two mammary glands, one BE stained for standard Histology and the other with Evans Blue. Both glands were imaged, annotated and reconstructed to show the feasibility of the goals proposed for the two coming years.