New paradigm to assess brain cell morphology by diffusion-weighted MR spectroscopy in vivo

Palombo, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4892-7967, Ligneul, C., Najac, C., Le Douce, J., Flament, J., Escartin, C., Hantraye, P., Brouillet, E., Bonvento, G. and Valette, J. 2016. New paradigm to assess brain cell morphology by diffusion-weighted MR spectroscopy in vivo. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113 (24) , pp. 6671-6676. 10.1073/pnas.1504327113

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Abstract

The brain is one of the most complex organs, and tools are lacking to assess its cellular morphology in vivo. Here we combine original diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy acquisition and novel modeling strategies to explore the possibility of quantifying brain cell morphology noninvasively. First, the diffusion of cell-specific metabolites is measured at ultra-long diffusion times in the rodent and primate brain in vivo to observe how cell long-range morphology constrains metabolite diffusion. Massive simulations of particles diffusing in synthetic cells parameterized by morphometric statistics are then iterated to fit experimental data. This method yields synthetic cells (tentatively neurons and astrocytes) that exhibit striking qualitative and quantitative similarities with histology (e.g., using Sholl analysis). With our approach, we measure major interspecies difference regarding astrocytes, whereas dendritic organization appears better conserved throughout species. This work suggests that the time dependence of metabolite diffusion coefficient allows distinguishing and quantitatively characterizing brain cell morphologies noninvasively.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Psychology
Publisher:	National Academy of Sciences
ISSN:	0027-8424
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	15 March 2022
Last Modified:	22 May 2023 07:44
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/147920

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