Viscoelastic mapping of mouse brain tissue: Relation to structure and age

Nelda Antonovaite*, Lianne A. Hulshof, Elly M. Hol, Wytse J. Wadman, Davide Iannuzzi

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

There is growing evidence that mechanical factors affect brain functioning. However, brain components responsible for regulating the physiological mechanical environment are not completely understood. To determine the relationship between structure and stiffness of brain tissue, we performed high-resolution viscoelastic mapping by dynamic indentation of the hippocampus and the cerebellum of juvenile mice brains, and quantified relative area covered by neurons (NeuN-staining), axons (neurofilament NN18-staining), astrocytes (GFAP-staining), myelin (MBP-staining) and nuclei (Hoechst-staining) of juvenile and adult mouse brain slices. Results show that brain subregions have distinct viscoelastic parameters. In gray matter (GM) regions, the storage modulus correlates negatively with the relative area of nuclei and neurons, and positively with astrocytes. The storage modulus also correlates negatively with the relative area of myelin and axons (high cell density regions are excluded). Furthermore, adult brain regions are ∼ 20%–150% stiffer than the comparable juvenile regions which coincide with increase in astrocyte GFAP-staining. Several linear regression models are examined to predict the mechanical properties of the brain tissue based on (immuno)histochemical stainings.

Original languageEnglish
Article number104159
JournalJournal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials
Volume113
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2021

Funding

The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme ( FP/2007–2013 )/ ERC grant agreement no. [ 615170] and the Alzheimer Society in the Netherlands ( Alzheimer Nederland WE.03-2017-04 ). The authors further thank M. Marrese and S.V. Beekmans for fruitful discussions, and T. Smit and D.Y. Yengej for providing the brain slices. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007?2013)/ERC grant agreement no. [615170] and the Alzheimer Society in the Netherlands (Alzheimer NederlandWE.03-2017-04). The authors further thank M. Marrese and S.V. Beekmans for fruitful discussions, and T. Smit and D.Y. Yengej for providing the brain slices.

FundersFunder number
Seventh Framework Programme615170, FP/2007–2013
European Research CouncilWE.03-2017-04
Seventh Framework Programme

    Keywords

    • Biomechanical testing
    • Brain mechanics
    • Brain tissue
    • Maturation
    • Microstructure
    • Viscoelasticity

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