3D-NEUROMIC – Whole-brain single-cell assessment of neurodevelopmental gene function with novel universally applicable genome-integrating vectors and large-scale multicolor imaging

Opening the way to in vivo single-cell resolved characterization of brain development and the underlying molecular mechanisms is a pressing need to more efficiently explore the roots of neurodevelopmental disorders. We currently lack a technique providing a throughput similar to transcriptomic approaches to inform on individual neural cell anatomy and developmental origin in the intact vertebrate brain, in normal and pathophysiology-relevant contexts.


To fill this gap, taking advantage of recent advances made by our labs, we will develop a technology enabling accelerated phenotyping of normal vs. genetically altered neural cells in situ, based on the combined use of multiplexed fluorescent labeling, somatic transgenesis and whole-brain multiphoton imaging. The interdisciplinary approach validated here in the mouse cerebral cortex will be applicable in virtually any organ to characterize normal and diseased tissue development.