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Updated: Dec 9, 2025
Detecting Amyloid-β Accumulation via Immunofluorescent Staining in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease
Published on: April 19, 2021
Evaluating β-amyloidosis progression in Alzheimer's disease with Mueller polarimetry
Mariia Borovkova1,2, Alexander Bykov1, Alexey Popov3
1Optoelectronics and Measurement Techniques, University of Oulu, 90570 Oulu, Finland.
Abstract:
We applied the wide-field Mueller imaging polarimetry for the screening of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples of mouse brain tissue at different stages of brain β-amyloidosis in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The accumulation of amyloid-beta (Aβ) deposits throughout the brain tissue is one of the key pathological hallmarks observed with the AD progression. We demonstrate that the presence of Aβ plaques influences the properties of backscattered polarized light, in particular, its degree of depolarization. By means of statistical analysis, we demonstrate that the high-order statistical moments of depolarization distributions, acquired with the multi-spectral Mueller imaging polarimetry, can be used as sensitive markers of the growing presence of Aβ plaques. The introduced label-free polarimetric approach has a potential to facilitate the current practice of the histopathology screening in terms of diagnosis accuracy, time and cost efficiency.
Insights
Wide-field Mueller imaging polarimetry detects amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques in Alzheimer
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience and Biomedical Optics
- Pathology and Medical Imaging
Background:
- Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by the accumulation of amyloid-beta (Aβ) deposits in the brain.
- Current histopathology screening for Aβ plaques can be time-consuming and costly.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the utility of wide-field Mueller imaging polarimetry for label-free screening of Aβ plaques in mouse brain tissue.
- To determine if polarimetric properties correlate with the progression of Aβ deposition in Alzheimer's disease models.
Main Methods:
- Application of multi-spectral Mueller imaging polarimetry to formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded mouse brain tissue.
- Analysis of the degree of depolarization and higher-order statistical moments of the backscattered polarized light.
- Statistical correlation between polarimetric measurements and the presence/extent of Aβ plaques.
Main Results:
- Amyloid-beta plaques significantly alter the depolarization properties of backscattered polarized light.
- High-order statistical moments of depolarization distributions serve as sensitive markers for Aβ plaque presence.
- A clear correlation was observed between polarimetric data and the progression of brain β-amyloidosis.
Conclusions:
- Label-free Mueller imaging polarimetry effectively detects and quantifies Aβ plaques in Alzheimer's disease models.
- This polarimetric approach shows potential for improving the accuracy, speed, and cost-efficiency of histopathological screening for AD.
