High-resolution voxelation mapping of human and rodent brain gene expression

Abstract

Voxelation allows high-throughput acquisition of multiple volumetric images of brain gene expression, similar to those obtained from biomedical imaging systems. To obtain these images, the method employs analysis of spatially registered voxels (cubes). For creation of high-resolution maps using voxelation, relatively small voxel sizes are necessary and instruments will be required for semiautomated harvesting of such voxels. Here, we describe two devices that allow spatially registered harvesting of voxels from the human and rodent brain, giving linear resolutions of 3.3 and 1 mm, respectively. Gene expression patterns obtained using these devices showed good agreement with known expression patterns. The voxelation instruments and their future iterations represent a valuable approach to the genome scale acquisition of gene expression patterns in the human and rodent brain.