RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Brain-wide quantification of the supraspinal connectome
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2021.06.10.447885
DO 10.1101/2021.06.10.447885
A1 Zimei Wang
A1 Adam Romanski
A1 Vatsal Mehra
A1 Yunfang Wang
A1 Benjamin C. Campbell
A1 Gregory A. Petsko
A1 Pantelis Tsoulfas
A1 Murray Blackmore
YR 2021
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/06/11/2021.06.10.447885.abstract
AB The supraspinal connectome is essential for normal behavior and homeostasis and consists of a wide range of sensory, motor, and autonomic projections from brain to spinal cord. Extensive work spanning a century has largely mapped the cell bodies of origin, yet their broad distribution and complex spatial relationships present significant challenges to the dissemination and application of this knowledge. Fields that study disruptions of supraspinal projections, for example spinal cord injury, have focused mostly on a handful of major populations that carry motor commands, with only limited consideration of dozens more that provide autonomic or crucial motor modulation. More comprehensive information is essential to understand the functional consequences of different injuries and to better evaluate the efficacy of treatments. Using viral retrograde labeling, 3D imaging, and registration to standard neuro-anatomical atlases we now provide a platform to profile the entire supraspinal connectome by rapidly visualizing and quantifying tens of thousands of supraspinal neurons, each assigned to more than 60 identified regions and nuclei throughout the brains of adult mice. We then use this tool to compare the lumbar versus cervically-projecting connectomes, to profile brain-wide the sensitivity of supraspinal populations to graded spinal injuries, and to correlate locomotor recovery with connectome measurements. To share these insights in an intuitive manner, we present an interactive web-based resource, which aims to spur progress by broadening understanding and analyses of essential but understudied supraspinal populations.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.