Zeng Tao, Chen Hanbo, Fakhry Ahmed, Hu Xiaoping, Liu Tianming, Ji Shuiwang
Department of Computer Science, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, USA.
Brain Struct Funct. 2015 Sep;220(5):2691-703. doi: 10.1007/s00429-014-0821-x. Epub 2014 Jun 27.
The recently released Allen Mouse Brain Connectivity Atlas provides a comprehensive mouse brain neuronal connectivity map from brain-wide injection sites via anterograde tracers coupled with serial two-photon tomography. In addition, the Allen Mouse Brain Atlas offers a genome-wide gene expression database built upon a series of in situ hybridization images, covering comprehensive expression energy of over 4,000 genes in coronal sections and over 20,000 genes in sagittal sections across the whole mouse brain. These concurrent and co-registered datasets provide an unparalleled opportunity for systematically analyzing and characterizing spatial neuronal connectivity and gene expression patterns. Inspired by our recent macroscale neuroimaging results showing that there are significantly different structural and functional connectivity patterns on the gyri and sulci of cerebral cortex in primate brains, the present work systematically examines the axonal connectivity and gene expression patterns on gyri and sulci of the cerebellum. Our results demonstrate that the cerebellum gyri and sulci of rodent brains are significantly different in both axonal connectivity and gene expression patterns. This discovery enriches and extends our prior findings in macroscale neuroimaging studies in primates. Additionally, this work offers novel insights on the molecular and structural architectures of the cerebellum in particular and the brain in general.
最近发布的艾伦小鼠脑连接图谱提供了一个全面的小鼠脑神经元连接图谱，该图谱通过顺行示踪剂结合串行双光子断层扫描技术，从全脑注射部位构建而成。此外，艾伦小鼠脑图谱还提供了一个全基因组基因表达数据库，该数据库基于一系列原位杂交图像构建，涵盖了整个小鼠脑冠状切片中4000多个基因以及矢状切片中20000多个基因的全面表达情况。这些同步且共配准的数据集为系统分析和表征空间神经元连接性及基因表达模式提供了无与伦比的机会。受我们最近的宏观神经成像结果启发，即灵长类动物大脑皮层的脑回和脑沟存在显著不同的结构和功能连接模式，本研究系统地研究了小脑脑回和脑沟上的轴突连接性和基因表达模式。我们的结果表明，啮齿动物大脑的小脑脑回和脑沟在轴突连接性和基因表达模式上均存在显著差异。这一发现丰富并扩展了我们之前在灵长类动物宏观神经成像研究中的发现。此外，这项工作为小脑乃至整个大脑的分子和结构架构提供了新的见解。
