Whole-Mount Adult Ear Skin Imaging Reveals Defective Neuro-Vascular Branching Morphogenesis in Obese and Type 2 Diabetic Mouse Models.
Publication Title
Sci Rep
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-11-2018
Keywords
Animals; Blood Vessels/diagnostic imaging; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/complications; Disease Models, Animal; Ear/blood supply; Ear/diagnostic imaging; Ear/innervation; Imaging, Three-Dimensional; Mice; Microscopy, Confocal/methods; Morphogenesis; Obesity/complications; Peripheral Nerves/diagnostic imaging; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases/diagnostic imaging; Receptors, Leptin/genetics; Skin/blood supply; Skin/innervation
Abstract
Obesity and type 2 diabetes are frequently associated with peripheral neuropathy. Though there are multiple methods for diagnosis and analysis of morphological changes of peripheral nerves and blood vessels, three-dimensional high-resolution imaging is necessary to appreciate the pathogenesis with an anatomically recognizable branching morphogenesis and patterning. Here we established a novel technique for whole-mount imaging of adult mouse ear skin to visualize branching morphogenesis and patterning of peripheral nerves and blood vessels. Whole-mount immunostaining of adult mouse ear skin showed that peripheral sensory and sympathetic nerves align with large-diameter blood vessels. Diet-induced obesity (DIO) mice exhibit defective vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) coverage, while there is no significant change in the amount of peripheral nerves. The leptin receptor-deficient db/db mice, a severe obese and type 2 diabetic mouse model, exhibit defective VSMC coverage and a large increase in the amount of smaller-diameter nerve bundles with myelin sheath and unmyelinated nerve fibers. Interestingly, an increase in the amount of myeloid immune cells was observed in the DIO but not db/db mouse skin. These data suggest that our whole-mount imaging method enables us to investigate the neuro-vascular and neuro-immune phenotypes in the animal models of obesity and diabetes.
Area of Special Interest
Cancer
Specialty/Research Institute
Nephrology
Specialty/Research Institute
Endocrinology
Specialty/Research Institute
Earle A. Chiles Research Institute
