A 3D Neurosterol Atlas of Mouse Brain

脂质中的固醇类，包括胆固醇、其前体和代谢物（氧甾醇和类固醇），是大脑中重要的生物分子。胆固醇是包围神经元的髓鞘的主要成分。许多甾醇是生物活性分子，调节许多大脑功能和行为，如记忆、认知、压力和情绪。根据这些分子所扮演的生物学角色，它们在不同的大脑区域被定位和富集。然而，由于技术的缺乏，人们对大脑中甾醇的分布知之甚少，这阻碍了我们对大脑如何功能以及随着年龄的增长而失去功能的理解。生物成像提供了组织中一个分子一个分子的生物分子丰度图像，使组织中不同分子的定量和空间分布可视化。质谱成像是一种新兴的强大的生物成像工具。我们将利用这项技术构建从发育阶段到青年到老年小鼠大脑中甾醇分子的三维地图或图谱。科学家们将利用我们的图谱找出不同的甾醇分子在大脑中的位置，以及它们的丰度与大脑功能区的关系。该资源将支持解决健康老龄化问题的神经科学研究的许多方面。

The sterol category of lipids, including cholesterol, its precursors and metabolites (oxysterols and steroids), are important biomolecules in the brain. Cholesterol is the major component of the myelin sheaths which surround neurons. Many sterols are biologically active molecules regulating many brain functions and behaviours, such as memory, cognition, stress and mood. These molecules are localized and enriched in different brain regions according to the biological roles they play. However, sterol distributions in brain are poorly defined due to lack of technology which has hampered our understanding about how the brain functions and loses function with ageing.Bioimaging provides an image of biomolecular abundance, molecule by molecule, in a tissue, allowing visualization of the quantitative and spatial distribution of different molecules within a tissue. Mass spectrometry imaging is an emerging powerful tool for bioimaging. We will use this technology to construct a 3D map or atlas of sterol molecules in the brains of mice from developmental stage to young adult to aged mice. Scientists will use our Atlas to find out where different sterol molecules are located in the brain and how their abundance correlates with brain functional region. The resource will support many aspects of neuroscience research which address healthy aging.