Two-photon imaging of cell-specific fluorophores in transgenic mice – an exploratory tool to study mechanisms of white matter injury

Abstract

Relatively little is known about specific pathways leading to structural and functional disruption of axons and glial cells in white matter. Because focal cerebral ischemia in humans damages both gray and white matter, an understanding of white matter injury is important in devising potential therapeutic approaches. We have developed a novel brain slice model from transgenic mice under control of cell-specific promoters to understand interactions between oligodendrocytes and axons under high resolution twophoton microscopy. Our data extends over previous findings the vulnerability of oligodendrocytes and axons both in culture and in slice preparations to glutamate toxicity during stroke and hypoglycemia. Conditions as different as stroke, trauma, perinatal brain injury, and multiple sclerosis may share common mechanisms of white matter injury.