Imaging of Whole Tissues

Gupta S, Utoft R, Hasseldam H, Schmidt-Christensen A, Hannibal TD, Hansen L, Fransén-Pettersson N, Agarwal-Gupta N, Rozell B, Andersson A, Holmberg D. Global and 3D Spatial Assessment of Neuroinflammation in Rodent Models of Multiple Sclerosis. PLoS One. 2013 Oct 4;8(10):e76330.



Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a progressive autoimmune inflammatory and demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS). T cells play a key role in the progression of neuroinflammation in MS and also in the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) animal models for the disease. A technology for quantitative and 3 dimensional (3D) spatial assessment of inflammation in this and other CNS inflammatory conditions is much needed. Here we present a procedure for 3D spatial assessment and global quantification of the development of neuroinflammation based on Optical Projection Tomography (OPT). Applying this approach to the analysis of rodent models of MS, we provide global quantitative data of the major inflammatory component as a function of the clinical course. Our data demonstrates a strong correlation between the development and progression of neuroinflammation and clinical disease in several mouse and a rat model of MS refining the information regarding the spatial dynamics of the inflammatory component in EAE. This method provides a powerful tool to investigate the effect of environmental and genetic forces and for assessing the therapeutic effects of drug therapy in animal models of MS and other neuroinflammatory/neurodegenerative disorders.


EAE in C57BL/6 mice
EAE in B10.RIII mice


This study is really neat and visualises lesions in whole tissues it shows perfectly what I have said that the clinical score reflects the degree of inflammation...remember the remyelinating drug that wiped out clinical disease but had no effect on the accumulation of white blood cells, which is very unusual. It is a shame the animals have to be killed to do this, but a lovely bit of imaging..I want to do it.


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