A 3D Neurosterol Atlas of Mouse Brain

固醇类脂质，包括胆固醇，其前体和代谢物（氧化固醇和类固醇），是大脑中重要的生物分子。胆固醇是神经元周围髓鞘的主要成分。许多固醇是调节许多大脑功能和行为的生物活性分子，如记忆，认知，压力和情绪。这些分子根据它们所扮演的生物学角色定位和富集在不同的大脑区域。然而，由于缺乏技术，阻碍了我们对大脑功能的理解，并且随着年龄的增长而失去功能，因此脑中的甾醇分布定义不清。生物成像提供了组织中生物分子丰度的图像，分子与分子，允许组织内不同分子的定量和空间分布的可视化。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年轻成年到老年小鼠大脑中甾醇分子的3D图谱或图谱。科学家们将使用我们的图谱来找出不同的固醇分子在大脑中的位置，以及它们的丰度如何与大脑功能区域相关。该资源将支持解决健康老龄化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.