{"title":"Morphological segmentation with tiling light sheet microscopy to quantitatively analyze the three-dimensional structures of spinal motoneurons.","authors":"Huijie Hu, Dongyue Wang, Yanlu Chen, Liang Gao","doi":"10.1186/s13619-025-00231-3","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Spinal motoneurons control muscle fibers contraction and drive all motor behaviors in vertebrates. Although spinal motoneurons share the fundamental role of innervating muscle fibers, they exhibit remarkable diversity that reflects their specific identities. Defining the morphological changes during postnatal development is critical for elucidating this diversity. However, our understanding of the three-dimensional (3D) morphology of spinal motoneurons at these stages remains limited, largely due to the lack of high-throughput imaging tools. Using tiling light sheet microscopy combined with tissue clearing methods, we imaged motoneurons of the lateral and median motor column in the cervical and lumbar cord during postnatal development. By analyzing their soma size, we found that motoneurons innervating the upper limbs differentiate into two subpopulations with distinct soma size by postnatal day 14 (P14), while differentiation of motoneurons innervating the lower limbs is delayed. Furthermore, coupling adenovirus labeling with 3D volumetric reconstruction, we traced and measured the number and lengths of dendrites of flexor and extensor motoneurons in the lumbar cord, finding that the number of dendrites initially increases and subsequently declines as dendritic order rises. Together, these findings provide a quantitative analysis of the 3D morphological changes underlying spinal motoneuron diversity.</p>","PeriodicalId":9811,"journal":{"name":"Cell Regeneration","volume":"14 1","pages":"17"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12075063/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Cell Regeneration","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13619-025-00231-3","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"CELL & TISSUE ENGINEERING","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Spinal motoneurons control muscle fibers contraction and drive all motor behaviors in vertebrates. Although spinal motoneurons share the fundamental role of innervating muscle fibers, they exhibit remarkable diversity that reflects their specific identities. Defining the morphological changes during postnatal development is critical for elucidating this diversity. However, our understanding of the three-dimensional (3D) morphology of spinal motoneurons at these stages remains limited, largely due to the lack of high-throughput imaging tools. Using tiling light sheet microscopy combined with tissue clearing methods, we imaged motoneurons of the lateral and median motor column in the cervical and lumbar cord during postnatal development. By analyzing their soma size, we found that motoneurons innervating the upper limbs differentiate into two subpopulations with distinct soma size by postnatal day 14 (P14), while differentiation of motoneurons innervating the lower limbs is delayed. Furthermore, coupling adenovirus labeling with 3D volumetric reconstruction, we traced and measured the number and lengths of dendrites of flexor and extensor motoneurons in the lumbar cord, finding that the number of dendrites initially increases and subsequently declines as dendritic order rises. Together, these findings provide a quantitative analysis of the 3D morphological changes underlying spinal motoneuron diversity.
Cell RegenerationBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology-Cell Biology
CiteScore
5.80
自引率
0.00%
发文量
42
审稿时长
35 days
期刊介绍:
Cell Regeneration aims to provide a worldwide platform for researches on stem cells and regenerative biology to develop basic science and to foster its clinical translation in medicine. Cell Regeneration welcomes reports on novel discoveries, theories, methods, technologies, and products in the field of stem cells and regenerative research, the journal is interested, but not limited to the following topics:
◎ Embryonic stem cells
◎ Induced pluripotent stem cells
◎ Tissue-specific stem cells
◎ Tissue or organ regeneration
◎ Methodology
◎ Biomaterials and regeneration
◎ Clinical translation or application in medicine