ABSTRACT
Recent advancements in tissue clearing technologies have offered unparalleled opportunities for researchers to explore the whole mouse brain at cellular resolution. With the expansion of this experimental technique, however, a scalable and easy-to-use computational tool is in demand to effectively analyze and integrate whole-brain mapping datasets. To that end, here we present CUBIC-Cloud, a cloud-based framework to quantify, visualize and integrate whole mouse brain data. CUBIC-Cloud is a fully automated system where users can upload their whole-brain data, run analysis and publish the results. We demonstrate the generality of CUBIC-Cloud by a variety of applications. First, we investigated brain-wide distribution of PV, Sst, ChAT, Th and Iba1 expressing cells. Second, Aβ plaque deposition in AD model mouse brains were quantified. Third, we reconstructed neuronal activity profile under LPS-induced inflammation by c-Fos immunostaining. Last, we show brain-wide connectivity mapping by pseudo-typed Rabies virus. Together, CUBIC-Cloud provides an integrative platform to advance scalable and collaborative whole-brain mapping.
Competing Interest Statement
T.M. and H.R.U. filed a patent application regarding the CUBIC-Cloud software. CUBIC-Cloud web service is provided and maintained by CUBICStars Inc.
