Axon and Myelin Morphology in Animal and Human Spinal Cord
Characterizing precisely the microstructure of axons, their density, size and myelination is of interest for the neuroscientific community, for example to help maximize the outcome of studies on white matter (WM) pathologies of the spinal cord (SC). The existence of a comprehensive and structured da...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2017-12-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Neuroanatomy |
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| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnana.2017.00129/full |
| _version_ | 1828782378004250624 |
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| author | Ariane Saliani Blanche Perraud Tanguy Duval Nikola Stikov Nikola Stikov Serge Rossignol Julien Cohen-Adad Julien Cohen-Adad |
| author_facet | Ariane Saliani Blanche Perraud Tanguy Duval Nikola Stikov Nikola Stikov Serge Rossignol Julien Cohen-Adad Julien Cohen-Adad |
| author_sort | Ariane Saliani |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Characterizing precisely the microstructure of axons, their density, size and myelination is of interest for the neuroscientific community, for example to help maximize the outcome of studies on white matter (WM) pathologies of the spinal cord (SC). The existence of a comprehensive and structured database of axonal measurements in healthy and disease models could help the validation of results obtained by different researchers. The purpose of this article is to provide such a database of healthy SC WM, to discuss the potential sources of variability and to suggest avenues for robust and accurate quantification of axon morphometry based on novel acquisition and processing techniques. The article is organized in three sections. The first section reviews morphometric results across species according to range of densities and counts of myelinated axons, axon diameter and myelin thickness, and characteristics of unmyelinated axons in different regions. The second section discusses the sources of variability across studies, such as age, sex, spinal pathways, spinal levels, statistical power and terminology in regard to tracts and protocols. The third section presents new techniques and perspectives that could benefit histology studies. For example, coherent anti-stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) imaging can provide sub-micrometric resolution without the need for fixation and staining, while slide scanners and stitching algorithms can provide full cross-sectional area of SC. In combination with these acquisition techniques, automatic segmentation algorithms for delineating axons and myelin sheath can help provide large-scale statistics on axon morphometry. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T17:48:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d0c79875fc7849b9aaa927d75be81ea1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5129 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T17:48:36Z |
| publishDate | 2017-12-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Neuroanatomy |
| spelling | doaj.art-d0c79875fc7849b9aaa927d75be81ea12022-12-22T00:56:18ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neuroanatomy1662-51292017-12-011110.3389/fnana.2017.00129300929Axon and Myelin Morphology in Animal and Human Spinal CordAriane Saliani0Blanche Perraud1Tanguy Duval2Nikola Stikov3Nikola Stikov4Serge Rossignol5Julien Cohen-Adad6Julien Cohen-Adad7NeuroPoly Lab, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, QC, CanadaNeuroPoly Lab, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, QC, CanadaNeuroPoly Lab, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, QC, CanadaNeuroPoly Lab, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, QC, CanadaMontreal Heart Institute, Montreal, QC, CanadaGroupe de Recherche sur le Système Nerveux Central, Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, CanadaNeuroPoly Lab, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, QC, CanadaFunctionnal Neuroimaging Unit, Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, CanadaCharacterizing precisely the microstructure of axons, their density, size and myelination is of interest for the neuroscientific community, for example to help maximize the outcome of studies on white matter (WM) pathologies of the spinal cord (SC). The existence of a comprehensive and structured database of axonal measurements in healthy and disease models could help the validation of results obtained by different researchers. The purpose of this article is to provide such a database of healthy SC WM, to discuss the potential sources of variability and to suggest avenues for robust and accurate quantification of axon morphometry based on novel acquisition and processing techniques. The article is organized in three sections. The first section reviews morphometric results across species according to range of densities and counts of myelinated axons, axon diameter and myelin thickness, and characteristics of unmyelinated axons in different regions. The second section discusses the sources of variability across studies, such as age, sex, spinal pathways, spinal levels, statistical power and terminology in regard to tracts and protocols. The third section presents new techniques and perspectives that could benefit histology studies. For example, coherent anti-stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) imaging can provide sub-micrometric resolution without the need for fixation and staining, while slide scanners and stitching algorithms can provide full cross-sectional area of SC. In combination with these acquisition techniques, automatic segmentation algorithms for delineating axons and myelin sheath can help provide large-scale statistics on axon morphometry.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnana.2017.00129/fullspinal cordwhite matteraxonsmyelinhistologymorphology |
| spellingShingle | Ariane Saliani Blanche Perraud Tanguy Duval Nikola Stikov Nikola Stikov Serge Rossignol Julien Cohen-Adad Julien Cohen-Adad Axon and Myelin Morphology in Animal and Human Spinal Cord Frontiers in Neuroanatomy spinal cord white matter axons myelin histology morphology |
| title | Axon and Myelin Morphology in Animal and Human Spinal Cord |
| title_full | Axon and Myelin Morphology in Animal and Human Spinal Cord |
| title_fullStr | Axon and Myelin Morphology in Animal and Human Spinal Cord |
| title_full_unstemmed | Axon and Myelin Morphology in Animal and Human Spinal Cord |
| title_short | Axon and Myelin Morphology in Animal and Human Spinal Cord |
| title_sort | axon and myelin morphology in animal and human spinal cord |
| topic | spinal cord white matter axons myelin histology morphology |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnana.2017.00129/full |
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