论文标题

一种量化周围神经轴突空间排列的新型统计方法

A novel statistical methodology for quantifying the spatial arrangements of axons in peripheral nerves

论文作者

Shemonti, Abida Sanjana, Plebani, Emanuele, Biscola, Natalia P., Jaffey, Deborah M., Havton, Leif A., Keast, Janet R., Pothen, Alex, Dundar, M. Murat, Powley, Terry L., Rajwa, Bartek

论文摘要

需要对周围神经的神经解剖学进行彻底的了解,以便更好地了解其功能以及神经调节工具和策略的发展。在生物物理建模中,通常假定在周围神经中髓鞘和不髓鞘的轴突的复杂空间排列是随机的,但是,实际上,轴突组织是不均匀的和各向异性的。目前的定量神经解剖学方法可以根据轴突数量和轴突的形态特征(例如面积和直径)分析外周神经。在这项研究中,我们采用了空间统计和点过程模型来描述轴突和凹痕距离的空间排列,以计算各种迷走神经和骨盆神经横截面中这些布置之间的相似性(以一阶统计和二阶统计范围)。我们利用了基于高度修改的U-NET体系结构的定制高通量深度学习系统进行了分割的高分辨率TEM图像。我们的发现显示了一种新颖而创新的方法,可以使用从解决方案到最佳传输问题得出的指标来量化空间点模式之间的相似性。我们还提出了一条可推广的管道,用于对周围神经结构进行定量分析。我们的数据表明,男性和女性的样本之间的差异以及骨盆和腹神经之间的相似性。

A thorough understanding of the neuroanatomy of peripheral nerves is required for a better insight into their function and the development of neuromodulation tools and strategies. In biophysical modeling, it is commonly assumed that the complex spatial arrangement of myelinated and unmyelinated axons in peripheral nerves is random, however, in reality the axonal organization is inhomogeneous and anisotropic. Present quantitative neuroanatomy methods analyze peripheral nerves in terms of the number of axons and the morphometric characteristics of the axons, such as area and diameter. In this study, we employed spatial statistics and point process models to describe the spatial arrangement of axons and Sinkhorn distances to compute the similarities between these arrangements (in terms of first- and second-order statistics) in various vagus and pelvic nerve cross-sections. We utilized high-resolution TEM images that have been segmented using a custom-built high-throughput deep learning system based on a highly modified U-Net architecture. Our findings show a novel and innovative approach to quantifying similarities between spatial point patterns using metrics derived from the solution to the optimal transport problem. We also present a generalizable pipeline for quantitative analysis of peripheral nerve architecture. Our data demonstrate differences between male- and female-originating samples and similarities between the pelvic and abdominal vagus nerves.

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