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Abstract #4449

Anatomical Phenotyping of Cerebellum and Vestibulo-Cochlear Organ in Mice Using Contrast Enhanced Micro-MRI

Kamila Urszula Szulc1, Edward Joseph Houston1, Roy V. Sillitoe2, Alexandra L. Joyner3, Daniel H. Turnbull1,4

1Skirball Institute, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States; 2Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY, United States; 3Developmental Biology Program, Sloan-Kettering Institute, New York, NY; 4Radiology, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States


In this study we demonstrate a potential of contrast enhanced micro-MRI approach for simultaneous anatomical phenotyping of the cerebellum and the vestibulo-cochlear organ in wild type mice and Gbx2-CKO mutant mice, which have severe defects in the Cb in the form of deletion of its central part. Additionally, these mice display abnormalities in the anatomy of flocculus-paraflocculus complex, a region of the Cb that receives projections from the vestibular organs and is critical for normal vestibular function. It was therefore of interest to determine whether the Cb defects were accompanied by additional, previously overlooked abnormalities in the vestibulo-cochlear organ.