Near-isotropic, aligned volume electron microscopy (eFIB-SEM) of Mouse dorsal striatum (jrc_mus-dorsal-striatum-2)
Sample: Wild-type, 8 month old mouse, strain: C57BL6/129 from Gene Targeting & Transgenic Facility of HHMI Janelia Research Campus
Sample Description: The mouse dorsal striatum is a key region in the basal ganglia, involved in motor control, learning, and decision-making. This structure plays a significant role in habit formation, procedural learning, and reward processing. It is widely studied in mice due to its relevance in understanding neurological and psychiatric conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and addiction. Despite being simpler and smaller than the human version, the mouse dorsal striatum shares many functional similarities, making it a valuable model for neurobiological research. Electron microscopy has significantly advanced our understanding of the dorsal striatum’s fine structure and its role in neural connectivity, synaptic plasticity, and neurodegenerative diseases. It has helped uncover the dynamic interactions between neurons, synapses, and subcellular components, shedding light on the molecular underpinnings of motor control, learning, and disease. As research progresses, electron microscopy will continue to be a valuable tool for exploring the complex cellular architecture of the basal ganglia and its dysfunction in neurological disorders.
Protocol: 8-month-old female C57BL6/129 mice were anesthetized with a ketamine/xylazine mixture before perfusion with 2% depolymerized paraformaldehyde and 2.5% glutaraldehyde in 0.1 M sodium cacodylate buffer. Specimens were postfixed in 2% OsO₄, 1.5% K₄Fe(CN)₆, and 0.1 M sodium cacodylate buffer for 1 hour. They were then stained en bloc with 2% aqueous uranyl acetate for 1 hour, dehydrated in increasing concentrations of ethanol and propylene oxide, embedded in Epon, and re-embedded in Durcupan.
Contributions: Sample provided by Yumei Wu, Christina Whites, and Pietro De Camilli (Yale), prepared for imaging by Yumei Wu and Christina Whites (Yale), with imaging and post-processing by Wei Qui, Gleb Shtengel, and Harald Hess(HHMI/Janelia).
Acquisition ID: jrc_mus-dorsal-striatum-2
Voxel size (nm): 4 x 4 x 4 (x, y, z)
Data dimensions (µm): 25.45 x 25.55 x 28.69 (x, y, z)
Imaging start date: 2024-06-10
Imaging duration (days): 44
Primary energy (eV): 900
Imaging current (nA): 0.25
Scanning speed (MHz): 0.100
Dataset URL: s3://janelia-cosem-datasets/jrc_mus-dorsal-striatum-2/jrc_mus-dorsal-striatum-2.zarr/recon-1/em/
Visualization Website: https://openorganelle.janelia.org/datasets/jrc_mus-dorsal-striatum-2
Publication: Xu et al., 2020; Xu et al., 2021; Wu et al., 2017
