Nanostructure-specific X-ray tomography reveals myelin levels, integrity and axon orientations in mouse and human nervous tissue

Marios Georgiadis (), Aileen Schroeter, Zirui Gao, Manuel Guizar-Sicairos, Marianne Liebi, Christoph Leuze, Jennifer A. McNab, Aleezah Balolia, Jelle Veraart, Benjamin Ades-Aron, Sunglyoung Kim, Timothy Shepherd, Choong H. Lee, Piotr Walczak, Shirish Chodankar, Phillip DiGiacomo, Gergely David, Mark Augath, Valerio Zerbi, Stefan Sommer, Ivan Rajkovic, Thomas Weiss, Oliver Bunk, Lin Yang, Jiangyang Zhang, Dmitry S. Novikov, Michael Zeineh, Els Fieremans and Markus Rudin
Additional contact information
Marios Georgiadis: ETH Zurich
Aileen Schroeter: ETH Zurich
Zirui Gao: ETH Zurich
Manuel Guizar-Sicairos: Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute
Marianne Liebi: Chalmers University of Technology
Christoph Leuze: Stanford School of Medicine
Jennifer A. McNab: Stanford School of Medicine
Aleezah Balolia: University of Colorado Denver
Jelle Veraart: New York University School of Medicine
Benjamin Ades-Aron: New York University School of Medicine
Sunglyoung Kim: New York University School of Medicine
Timothy Shepherd: New York University School of Medicine
Choong H. Lee: New York University School of Medicine
Piotr Walczak: Johns Hopkins Medicine
Shirish Chodankar: Brookhaven National Laboratory
Phillip DiGiacomo: Stanford School of Medicine
Gergely David: University of Zurich
Mark Augath: ETH Zurich
Valerio Zerbi: ETH Zurich
Stefan Sommer: ETH Zurich
Ivan Rajkovic: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Thomas Weiss: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Oliver Bunk: Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute
Lin Yang: Brookhaven National Laboratory
Jiangyang Zhang: New York University School of Medicine
Dmitry S. Novikov: New York University School of Medicine
Michael Zeineh: Stanford School of Medicine
Els Fieremans: New York University School of Medicine
Markus Rudin: ETH Zurich

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Myelin insulates neuronal axons and enables fast signal transmission, constituting a key component of brain development, aging and disease. Yet, myelin-specific imaging of macroscopic samples remains a challenge. Here, we exploit myelin’s nanostructural periodicity, and use small-angle X-ray scattering tensor tomography (SAXS-TT) to simultaneously quantify myelin levels, nanostructural integrity and axon orientations in nervous tissue. Proof-of-principle is demonstrated in whole mouse brain, mouse spinal cord and human white and gray matter samples. Outcomes are validated by 2D/3D histology and compared to MRI measurements sensitive to myelin and axon orientations. Specificity to nanostructure is exemplified by concomitantly imaging different myelin types with distinct periodicities. Finally, we illustrate the method’s sensitivity towards myelin-related diseases by quantifying myelin alterations in dysmyelinated mouse brain. This non-destructive, stain-free molecular imaging approach enables quantitative studies of myelination within and across samples during development, aging, disease and treatment, and is applicable to other ordered biomolecules or nanostructures.

Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-22719-7

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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22719-7

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