(Invited) Carbon Nanotube Tracking Reveal the Landscapes of the Brain Extracellular Space Around Synapses and in Pathological Conditions

Abstract

In recent years, exploration of the brain extracellular space (ECS) has made remarkable progress, including nanoscopic characterizations based on luminescent single wall carbon nanotubes imaging [1]. In this case, single nanotube tracking is used combined with super-resolution imaging analysis to provide both local measures of the nanoscale dimensions of the brain network and the ECS molecular diffusion landscape. We will show that this approach can be applied to reveal the nanoscale organization of pathological ECS in adult mice under degenerative conditions (α-synuclein-induced neurodegeneration) [2]. Another application will concern the investigation of the ECS around synapses. We will reveal specific ECS properties in terms of morphology at the nanoscale and inner diffusivity which are modulated upon synaptic activity [3].