Magnetic resonance diffusion tensor microimaging reveals a role for Bcl-x in brain development and homeostasis

Jiangyang Zhang, Ying Bei Chen, J. Marie Hardwick, Michael I. Miller, Celine Plachez, Linda J. Richards, Paul Yarowsky, Peter Van Zijl, Susumu Mori

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

36 Scopus citations

Abstract

A new technique based on diffusion tensor imaging and computational neuroanatomy was developed to efficiently and quantitatively characterize the three-dimensional morphology of the developing brains. The technique was used to analyze the phenotype of conditional Bcl-x knock-out mice, in which the bcl-x gene was deleted specifically in neurons of the cerebral cortex and hippocampus beginning at embryonic day 13.5 as cells became postmitotic. Affected brain regions and associated axonal tracts showed severe atrophy in adult Bcl-x-deficient mice. Longitudinal studies revealed that these phenotypes are established by regressive processes that occur primarily during the first postnatal week, whereas neurogenesis and migration showed no obvious abnormality during embryonic stages. Specific families of white matter tracts that once formed normally during the embryonic stages underwent dramatic degeneration postnatally. Thus, this technique serves as a powerful tool to efficiently localize temporal and spatial manifestation of morphological phenotype.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1881-1888
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Neuroscience
Volume25
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 23 2005

Keywords

  • Axon
  • Cortex
  • Development
  • Diffusion
  • Magnetic
  • Phenotype
  • Resonance

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