Lesion extension and neuronal loss following spinal cord injury using X-ray phase-contrast tomography in mice.
(2023) Journal of Neurotrauma — Vol. 40, n° 9-10, p. 939-951 (2023)
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- Following a spinal cord injury (SCI) the degree of functional (motor, autonomous or sensory) correlates with the severity of nervous tissue disruption. An imaging technique able to capture non-invasively and simultaneously the complex mechanisms of neuronal loss, vascular damages and perilesional tissue reorganization is currently lacking in experimental SCI studies. Synchrotron X-ray phase-contrast Tomography (SXPCT) has emerged as a non-destructive 3D neuroimaging technique with high contrast and spatial resolution. In this framework, we developed a multimodal approach combining SXPCT, histology and correlative methods to study neuro-vascular architecture in normal and C4-contused mouse spinal cords (C57BL/6J mice, age 2-3 months). The evolution of SCI lesion was imaged at the cell resolution level during the acute (30 minutes) and subacute (7 days) phases. Spared motor neurons were segmented and quantified in different volumes localized at and away from the epicenter. SXPCT was able to capture neuronal loss and blood-brain barrier breakdown following SCI. 3D quantification based on SXPCT acquisitions showed no additional motor neuron loss between 30 minutes and 7 days post-SCI. In addition, the analysis of hemorrhagic (at 30 minutes) and lesion (at 7 days) volumes revealed a high similarity in size, suggesting no extension of tissue degeneration between early and later time points. Moreover, glial scar borders were unevenly distributed, with rostral edges being the most extended. In conclusion, SXPCT capability to image at high-resolution cellular changes in 3D enables understanding the relationship between hemorrhagic events and nervous structure damages in SCI.
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Maugeri, L., Jankovski, A., Malucelli, E., Mangini, F., Vandeweerd, J.-M., Gilloteaux, J., De Swert, K., Brun, F., Begani Provinciali, G., DiNuzzo, M., Mittone, A., Bravin, A., Gigli, G., Giove, F., Cedola, A., Nicaise, C., & Fratini, M. (2023). Lesion extension and neuronal loss following spinal cord injury using X-ray phase-contrast tomography in mice. Journal of Neurotrauma, 40(9-10), 939-951. https://doi.org/10.1089/neu.2021.0451 (Original work published 2023)