title: Direct 3D Analyses Reveal Barrel-Specific Vascular Distribution and Cross-Barrel Branching in the Mouse Barrel Cortex.
abstract: Whether vascular distribution is spatially specific among cortical columns is a fundamental yet controversial question. Here, we have obtained 1-μm resolution 3D datasets that cover the whole mouse barrel cortex by combining Nissl staining with micro-optical sectioning tomography to simultaneously visualize individual cells and blood vessels, including capillaries. Pinpointing layer IV of the posteromedial barrel subfield, direct 3D reconstruction and quantitative analysis showed that (1) penetrating vessels preferentially locate in the interbarrel septa/barrel wall (75.1%) rather than the barrel hollows, (2) the branches of 70% penetrating vessels only reach the neighboring but not always all the neighboring barrels and the other 30% extend beyond the neighboring barrels and may provide cross-barrel blood supply or drainage, (3) the branches of 59.6% penetrating vessels reach all the neighboring barrels, while the rest only reach part of them, and (4) the length density of microvessels in the interbarrel septa/barrel wall is lower than that in the barrel hollows with a ratio of 0.92. These results reveal that the penetrating vessels and microvessels exhibit a barrel-specific organization, whereas the branches of penetrating vessels do not, which suggests a much more complex vascular distribution pattern among cortical columns than previously thought.
authors.affiliation: Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics.|MoE Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Jingpeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics.|MoE Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Congdi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics.|MoE Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Shangbin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics.|MoE Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics.|MoE Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics.|MoE Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Wenxiang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics.|MoE Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Zhongqin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics.|MoE Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Qingming
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics.|MoE Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gong
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D023421:Models, Animal; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D014738:Vibrissae / Q000294:innervation*
keywords: 3D reconstruction; barrel cortex; blood vessels; mouse brain; neuroinformatics