Back to Search Start Over

High-Resolution Digital Panorama of Multiple Structures in Whole Brain of Alzheimer's Disease Mice

Authors :
Xianzhen Yin
Xiaochuan Zhang
Jingjing Zhang
Weicheng Yang
Xian Sun
Haiyan Zhang
Zhaobing Gao
Hualiang Jiang
Source :
Frontiers in Neuroscience, Vol 16 (2022)
Publication Year :
2022
Publisher :
Frontiers Media S.A., 2022.

Abstract

Simultaneously visualizing Amyloid-β (Aβ) plaque with its surrounding brain structures at the subcellular level in the intact brain is essential for understanding the complex pathology of Alzheimer's disease, but is still rarely achieved due to the technical limitations. Combining the micro-optical sectioning tomography (MOST) system, whole-brain Nissl staining, and customized image processing workflow, we generated a whole-brain panorama of Alzheimer's disease mice without specific labeling. The workflow employed the steps that include virtual channel splitting, feature enhancement, iso-surface rendering, direct volume rendering, and feature fusion to extract and reconstruct the different signals with distinct gray values and morphologies. Taking advantage of this workflow, we found that the denser-distribution areas of Aβ plaques appeared with relatively more somata and smaller vessels, but show a dissimilar distributing pattern with nerve tracts. In addition, the entorhinal cortex and adjacent subiculum regions present the highest density and biggest diameter of plaques. The neuronal processes in the vicinity of these Aβ plaques showed significant structural alternation such as bending or abrupt branch ending. The capillaries inside or adjacent to the plaques were observed with abundant distorted micro-vessels and abrupt ending. Depicting Aβ plaques, somata, nerve processes and tracts, and blood vessels simultaneously, this panorama enables us for the first time, to analyze how the Aβ plaques interact with capillaries, somata, and processes at a submicron resolution of 3D whole-brain scale, which reveals potential pathological effects of Aβ plaques from a new cross-scale view. Our approach opens a door to routine systematic studies of complex interactions among brain components in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1662453X
Volume :
16
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Frontiers in Neuroscience
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.f9edb0dfbeb047f79937947a4d392be9
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2022.870520