Detection of amyloid plaques in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease by magnetic resonance imaging.
We performed three-dimensional, high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of fixed mouse brains to determine whether MRI can detect amyloid plaques in transgenic mouse models of Alzheimer's disease. Plaque-like structures in the cortex and hippocampus could be clearly identified in T2-weighted images with an image resolution of 46 microm x 72 microm x 72 microm. The locations of plaques were confirmed in coregistration studies comparing MR images with Congo red-stained histological results. This technique is quantitative, less labor-intensive compared to histology, and is free from artifacts related to sectioning process (deformation and missing tissues). It enabled us to study the distribution of plaques in the entire brain in 3D. The results of this study suggest that this method may be useful for assessing treatment efficacy in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease (AD).
Department of Radiology, Division of NMR Research, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA.
Jiangyang
J
Zhang
Paul
P
Yarowsky
Marcia N
MN
Gordon
Giovanni
G
Di Carlo
Sanjay
S
Munireddy
Peter C M
PC
van Zijl
Susumu
S
Mori
D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D000682:Amyloid / Q000032:analysis*; D000818:Animals; D016477:Artifacts; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology; D004396:Coloring Agents; D003224:Congo Red; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000473:pathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology; D007089:Image Enhancement; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008636:Mesencephalon / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D011699:Putamen / Q000473:pathology
D000682:Amyloid; D004396:Coloring Agents; D003224:Congo Red