Micro-tomographic Atlas of the Mouse Skeleton

At the present time, the laboratory mouse has become a central tool for skeletal studies, mainly because of the extensive use of genetic manipulations in this species. Naturally, this widespread use of mice in developmental, bone, joint, tooth, and neurological research calls for detailed anatomical knowledge of the mouse skeleton as a reference for experimental design and phenotyping under a variety of experimental conditions, including genetic manipulations (e.g., transgenic and kno- out mice). Several general treatises on the normal anatomy of the mouse and rat have been published in the previous century. In the absence of adequate technologies, these books describe only the external anatomical features of the different parts of the skeleton. In general, images in these atlases are camera lucida-based line drawings rather than accurate three-dimensional images. Furthermore, so far a systematic two- and three-dimensional description of the internal anatomy of bones, as well as the three-dimensional relationship exhibited in joints, are not available.

Micro-Tomographic Atlas of the Mouse Skeleton

Professor Itai Bab, Chief, Bone Laboratory, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

Professor Ralph Müller, Director, Center for Bioengineering Research and Education, ETH Zürich, Switzerland

Micro-Tomographic Atlas of the Mouse Skeleton serves as an essential guide containing unique systematic description of all calcified components of the mouse. This detailed atlas fulfils an emerging need for high resolution anatomical details as mice become a standard laboratory animal in skeletal research and the use of m CT technology is rapidly increasing as a key analytical tool in the study of bone.

Key Features:

• Includes over 200 high resolution, two- and three dimensional m CT images of the exterior and interiors of all bones and joints
• Offers the spatial relationship of individual bones within complex skeletal units (e.g., skull, thorax, pelvis, extremities).
• All images are accompanied by detailed explanatory text that highlights special features and newly reported structures.
• Available for the first time in the Atlas:

• Detailed information on the micro-anatomy of the murine skeleton essential for the design of experiments and interpretation of results

• Comparative analyses on m CT-based morphometric parameters at the whole bone, cortical and trabecular levels including:

• Age differences (4-40 weeks)
• Gender differences
• Differences between main mouse strains (C57Bl/6J, SJL,C3H)

Micro-Tomographic Atlas of the Mouse Skeleton offers a practical, comprehensive desk reference for all scientists and students interested in skeletal biology.