Nanostructure-specific X-ray tomography reveals myelin levels, integrity and axon orientations in mouse and human nervous tissue

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 12; no. 1; pp. 2941 - 13
• Main Authors: Georgiadis, Marios, Schroeter, Aileen, Gao, Zirui, Guizar-Sicairos, Manuel, Liebi, Marianne, Leuze, Christoph, McNab, Jennifer A., Balolia, Aleezah, Veraart, Jelle, Ades-Aron, Benjamin, Kim, Sunglyoung, Shepherd, Timothy, Lee, Choong H., Walczak, Piotr, Chodankar, Shirish, DiGiacomo, Phillip, David, Gergely, Augath, Mark, Zerbi, Valerio, Sommer, Stefan, Rajkovic, Ivan, Weiss, Thomas, Bunk, Oliver, Yang, Lin, Zhang, Jiangyang, Novikov, Dmitry S., Zeineh, Michael, Fieremans, Els, Rudin, Markus
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 19.05.2021; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 101/1; 14/19; 59/57; 631/1647/245; 631/378/2606; 631/535/1261; 639/925/930/2735; 692/698/1688; 96/34; Aging; Animals; Axons; Axons - metabolism; Axons - ultrastructure; BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; Biomolecules; Brain; Brain - metabolism; Brain - ultrastructure; Central Nervous System - diagnostic imaging; Central Nervous System - metabolism; Central Nervous System - ultrastructure; Child, Preschool; Female; Histology; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; imaging; imaging techniques; Integrity; Magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Male; MATERIALS SCIENCE; Mathematical analysis; Medical imaging; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Knockout; multidisciplinary; Myelin; Myelin biology and repair; Myelin Proteins - metabolism; Myelin Sheath - metabolism; Myelin Sheath - ultrastructure; Myelination; Nanostructure; Nanostructures - chemistry; Nanostructures - ultrastructure; nervous system; Nervous tissues; Neuroimaging; Neuroimaging - methods; Periodicity; Proof of Concept Study; Quantitative research; SAXS; Scattering, Small Angle; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Signal transmission; Small angle X ray scattering; Spinal cord; Spinal Cord - metabolism; Spinal Cord - ultrastructure; Substantia grisea; Tensors; Tomography; Tomography, X-Ray Computed - methods; X-ray scattering; X-rays

Myelin insulates neuronal axons and enables fast signal transmission, constituting a key component of brain development, aging and disease. Yet, myelin-specific imaging of macroscopic samples remains a challenge. Here, we exploit myelin’s nanostructural periodicity, and use small-angle X-ray scatter...