Purkinje cell loss in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

Gray matter atrophy observed by brain MRI is an important correlate to clinical disability and disease duration in multiple sclerosis. The objective of this study was to link brain atrophy visualized by neuroimaging to its underlying neuropathology using the MS model, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Volumetric changes in brains of EAE mice, as well as matched healthy normal controls, were quantified by collecting post-mortem high-resolution T2-weighted magnetic resonance microscopy and actively stained magnetic resonance histology images. Anatomical delineations demonstrated a significant decrease in the volume of the whole cerebellum, cerebellar cortex, and molecular layer of the cerebellar cortex in EAE as compared to normal controls. The pro-apoptotic marker caspase-3 was detected in Purkinje cells and a significant decrease in Purkinje cell number was found in EAE. Cross modality and temporal correlations revealed a significant association between Purkinje cell loss on neuropathology and atrophy of the molecular layer of the cerebellar cortex by neuroimaging. These results demonstrate the power of using combined population atlasing and neuropathology approaches to discern novel insights underlying gray matter atrophy in animal models of neurodegenerative disease

4-D Micro-CT of the Mouse Heart

Purpose: Demonstrate noninvasive imaging methods for in vivo characterization of cardiac structure and function in mice using a micro-CT system that provides high photon fluence rate and integrated motion control. Materials and Methods: Simultaneous cardiac- and respiratory-gated micro-CT was performed in C57BL/6 mice during constant intravenous infusion of a conventional iodinated contrast agent (Isovue-370), and after a single intravenous injection of a blood pool contrast agent (Fenestra VC). Multiple phases of the cardiac cycle were reconstructed with contrast to noise and spatial resolution sufficient for quantitative assessment of cardiac function. Results: Contrast enhancement with Isovue-370 increased over time with a maximum of ~500 HU (aorta) and 900 HU (kidney cortex). Fenestra VC provided more constant enhancement over 3 hr, with maximum enhancement of ~620 HU (aorta) and ~90 HU (kidney cortex). The maximum enhancement difference between blood and myocardium in the heart was ~250 HU for Isovue-370 and ~500 HU for Fenestra VC. In mice with Fenestra VC, volumetric measurements of the left ventricle were performed and cardiac function was estimated by ejection fraction, stroke volume, and cardiac output. Conclusion: Image quality with Fenestra VC was sufficient for morphological and functional studies required for a standardized method of cardiac phenotyping of the mouse

RESEARCH ARTICLE Molecular Imaging. Vol. 4, No.2,April-June 2005, pp.110 –116 110 4-D Micro-CT of the Mouse Heart

Purpose: Demonstrate noninvasive imaging methods for in vivo characterization of cardiac structure and function in mice using a micro-CT system that provides high photon fluence rate and integrated motion control. Materials and Methods: Simultaneous cardiac- and respiratory-gated micro-CT was performed in C57BL/6 mice during constant intravenous infusion of a conventional iodinated contrast agent (Isovue-370), and after a single intravenous injection of a blood pool contrast agent (Fenestra VC). Multiple phases of the cardiac cycle were reconstructed with contrast to noise and spatial resolution sufficient for quantitative assessment of cardiac function. Results: Contrast enhancement with Isovue-370 increased over time with a maximum of 500 HU (aorta) and 900 HU (kidney cortex). Fenestra VC provided more constant enhancement over 3 hr, with maximum enhancement of 620 HU (aorta) and 90 HU (kidney cortex). The maximum enhancement difference between blood and myocardium in the heart was 250 HU for Isovue-370 and 500 HU for Fenestra VC. In mice with Fenestra VC, volumetric measurements of the left ventricle were performed and cardiac function was estimated by ejection fraction, stroke volume, and cardiac output. Conclusion: Image quality with Fenestra VC was sufficient for morphological and functional studies required for a standardized method of cardiac phenotyping of the mouse. Mol Imaging (2005) 4, 1–7. Keywords: Micro-CT, resolution, mouse, phenotyping, cardiac imaging

Data from: Extracellular space preservation aids the connectomic analysis of neural circuits

Dense connectomic mapping of neuronal circuits is limited by the time and effort required to analyze 3D electron microscopy (EM) datasets. Algorithms designed to automate image segmentation suffer from substantial error rates and require significant manual error correction. Any improvement in segmentation error rates would therefore directly reduce the time required to analyze 3D EM data. We explored preserving extracellular space (ECS) during chemical tissue fixation to improve the ability to segment neurites and to identify synaptic contacts. ECS preserved tissue is easier to segment using machine learning algorithms, leading to significantly reduced error rates. In addition, we observed that electrical synapses are readily identified in ECS preserved tissue. Finally, we determined that antibodies penetrate deep into ECS preserved tissue with only minimal permeabilization, thereby enabling correlated light microscopy (LM) and EM studies. We conclude that preservation of ECS benefits multiple aspects of the connectomic analysis of neural circuits

Figure 3 - Source Data 2

Raw data for 3D SBEM Low ECS dataset. Viewable in Knossos (www.knossostool.org

Figure3 - Source Data 1

Raw data for 3D SBEM High ECS dataset. Viewable in Knossos (www.knossostool.org

Molecular MRI for sensitive and specific detection of lung metastases

Early and specific detection of metastatic cancer cells in the lung (the most common organ targeted by metastases) could significantly improve cancer treatment outcomes. However, the most widespread lung imaging methods use ionizing radiation and have low sensitivity and/or low specificity for cancer cells. Here we address this problem with an imaging method to detect submillimeter-sized metastases with molecular specificity. Cancer cells are targeted by iron oxide nanoparticles functionalized with cancer-binding ligands, then imaged by high-resolution hyperpolarized 3He MRI. We demonstrate in vivo detection of pulmonary micrometastates in mice injected with breast adenocarcinoma cells. The method not only holds promise for cancer imaging but more generally suggests a fundamentally unique approach to molecular imaging in the lungs