A three-dimensional stereotaxic atlas of the gray short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica) brain.

The gray short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica) is a small marsupial gaining recognition as a laboratory animal in biomedical research. Despite numerous studies on opossum neuroanatomy, a consistent and comprehensive neuroanatomical reference for this species is still missing. Here we present the first three-dimensional, multimodal atlas of the Monodelphis opossum brain. It is based on four complementary imaging modalities: high resolution ex vivo magnetic resonance images, micro-computed tomography scans of the cranium, images of the face of the cutting block, and series of sections stained with the Nissl method and for myelinated fibers. Individual imaging modalities were reconstructed into a three-dimensional form and then registered to the MR image by means of affine and deformable registration routines. Based on a superimposition of the 3D images, 113 anatomical structures were demarcated and the volumes of individual regions were measured. The stereotaxic coordinate system was defined using a set of cranial landmarks: interaural line, bregma, and lambda, which allows for easy expression of any location within the brain with respect to the skull. The atlas is released under the Creative Commons license and available through various digital atlasing web services.

3D brain atlas reconstructor service--online repository of three-dimensional models of brain structures.

Brain atlases are important tools of neuroscience. Traditionally prepared in paper book format, more and more commonly they take digital form which extends their utility. To simplify work with different atlases, to lay the ground for developing universal tools which could abstract from the origin of the atlas, efforts are being made to provide common interfaces to these atlases. 3D Brain Atlas Reconstructor service (3dBARs) described here is a repository of digital representations of different brain atlases in CAF format which we recently proposed and a repository of 3D models of brain structures. A graphical front-end is provided for creating and viewing the reconstructed models as well as the underlying 2D atlas data. An application programming interface (API) facilitates programmatic access to the service contents from other websites. From a typical user's point of view, 3dBARs offers an accessible way to mine publicly available atlasing data with a convenient browser based interface, without the need to install extra software. For a developer of services related to brain atlases, 3dBARs supplies mechanisms for enhancing functionality of other software. The policy of the service is to accept new datasets as delivered by interested parties and we work with the researchers who obtain original data to make them available to the neuroscience community at large. The functionality offered by the 3dBARs situates it at the core of present and future general atlasing services tying it strongly to the global atlasing neuroinformatics infrastructure.

Lipopolysaccharide injected to pregnant mice affects behavior of their offspring in adulthood.

We studied consequences of maternal immune response on the course of pregnancy and the behavior of adult offspring. Mice in late gestation (day 16-17) were injected with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Treatment of pregnant mice with high doses of LPS resulted in fetal resorption or stillbirths. Pregnant mice treated with low doses (100 or 300 micrograms/kg) of LPS gave birth to normal numbers of pups. However, behavior of the offspring was altered. Adult offspring of dams injected at a dose of 300 micrograms/kg of LPS traveled longer distances in the open field and spent more time in the central part of the arena, than mice in the control group. Female mice of this group spent more time in open arms of the elevated plus maze, in comparison to female control mice. Results of the Morris water maze test showed impairment of spatial learning and memory in male offspring born to LPS-injected dams. Furthermore, in the nest building test adult mice born from LPS challenged pregnancies constructed worse quality nests, which points to the presence of hippocampal dysfunction. These findings indicate that maternal bacterial infections during pregnancy may alter offspring behavior in adult life.