title: Dynamic imaging and quantitative analysis of cranial neural tube closure in the mouse embryo using optical coherence tomography.
abstract: Neural tube closure is a critical feature of central nervous system morphogenesis during embryonic development. Failure of this process leads to neural tube defects, one of the most common forms of human congenital defects. Although molecular and genetic studies in model organisms have provided insights into the genes and proteins that are required for normal neural tube development, complications associated with live imaging of neural tube closure in mammals limit efficient morphological analyses. Here, we report the use of optical coherence tomography (OCT) for dynamic imaging and quantitative assessment of cranial neural tube closure in live mouse embryos in culture. Through time-lapse imaging, we captured two neural tube closure mechanisms in different cranial regions, zipper-like closure of the hindbrain region and button-like closure of the midbrain region. We also used OCT imaging for phenotypic characterization of a neural tube defect in a mouse mutant. These results suggest that the described approach is a useful tool for live dynamic analysis of normal neural tube closure and neural tube defects in the mouse model.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA; Equal Contribution.
authors.forename: Shang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA; Equal Contribution.
authors.forename: Monica D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Lopez
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Paul A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Overbeek
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA; Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Biophotonics, Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Russia; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Houston, 3605 Cullen Blvd., Houston, TX 77204, USA.
authors.forename: Kirill V
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Larin
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Irina V
authors.initials: IV
authors.lastname: Larina
keywords: (170.3880) Medical and biological imaging; (170.4500) Optical coherence tomography; (170.6920) Time-resolved imaging