title: Cerebellar Pathways in Mouse Model of Purkinje Cell Degeneration Detected by High-Angular Resolution Diffusion Imaging Tractography.
abstract: Cerebellar MR imaging has several challenging aspects, due to the fine, repetitive layered structure of cortical folia with underlying axonal pathways. In this MR study, we imaged with high-angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) abnormal cerebellar cortical structure (gray matter) and myelinated axonal pathways (white matter) of a mouse spontaneous mutation, Purkinje cell degeneration (pcd), in which almost all Purkinje neurons degenerate, mainly between postnatal days 20 and 35. Mouse brains at postnatal day 20 (P20) and at 8 months were scanned, and known or expected abnormalities, such as reduction of the white matter volume, disorganized pathways likely linked to parallel fibers, mossy fibers, and other fibers running from/to the cerebellar cortex were observed in mutant mice. Such abnormalities were detected at both an early and a fully advanced degeneration stage. These results suggest that our diffusion MR tractography is useful for early detection and tracking of neuropathology in the cerebellum.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Chiba University School of Medicine, Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuri
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kanamaru
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Jianxue
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Natalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Richard L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Sidman
authors.affiliation: Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. emi@nmr.mgh.harvard.edu.|Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 1 Autumn St. #456, Boston, MA, 02115, USA. emi@nmr.mgh.harvard.edu.|Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA. emi@nmr.mgh.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Emi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Takahashi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000473:pathology; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000473:pathology*; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000473:pathology*; D011689:Purkinje Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D066127:White Matter / Q000473:pathology
keywords: Cerebellum; Degeneration; Development; Diffusion imaging; Purkinje cell; Tractography