Objective:To investigate the clinical value of Omniview combined with volume contrast imaging (VCI) in measuring the posterior angle of fetal near-field lateral ventricle.Methods:Fifty fetuses whose lateral ventricles were widened, corpus callosum was poorly developed, and who had hydrocephalus as indicated by routine ultrasonography performed between October 1, 2018 and December 31, 2019 in Hangzhou Obstetrics & Gynecology Hospital were included in this study. The width of the posterior angle of fetal near-field lateral ventricle was measured using routine ultrasonography, Omniview-VCI technique, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in each fetus and compared among the three techniques.Results:The width of the posterior angle of fetal near-field lateral ventricle measured by Omniview-VCI and MRI techniques was (1.17 ± 0.15) cm and (1.20 ± 0.12) cm, respectively, which was significantly greater than that measured by routine ultrasonography [(1.11 ± 0.13) cm, t = 2.137, 3.597, both P < 0.05]. There was no significant difference in the width of the posterior angle of fetal near-field lateral ventricle measured by Omniview-VCI technique versus MRI technique ( t = 1.104, P > 0.05). The mean examination cost and waiting time of Omniview-VCI technique were (222.15 ± 3.20) yuan and (0.24 ± 0.04) days, which were less or shorter than those of MRI technique [(597.23 ± 11.02) yuan, (1.02 ± 0.10) days, t = 213.126, 51.210, both P < 0.05]. Conclusion:Omniview-VCI technique can replace MRI and accurately measure the posterior angle of fetal near-field lateral ventricle. It provides a more simple, fast and effective method for evaluating fetal near-field lateral ventricle, and can become a conventional application technique.

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a tight boundary formed between endothelial cells and astrocytes, which separates and protects brain from most pathogens as well as neural toxins in circulation. However, detailed molecular players involved in formation of BBB are not completely known. Dentin matrix protein 1 (DMP1)-proteoglycan (PG), which is known to be involved in mineralization of bones and dentin, is also expressed in soft tissues including brain with unknown functions. In the present study, we reported that DMP1-PG was expressed in brain astrocytes and enriched in BBB units. The only glycosylation site of DMP1 is serine89 (S89) in the N-terminal domain of the protein in mouse. Mutant mice with DMP1 point mutations changing S89 to glycine (S89G), which completely eradicated glycosylation of the protein, demonstrated severe BBB disruption. Another breed of DMP1 mutant mice, which lacked the C-terminal domain of DMP1, manifested normal BBB function. The polarity of S89G-DMP1 astrocytes was disrupted and cell-cell adhesion was loosened. Through a battery of analyses, we found that DMP1 glycosylation was critically required for astrocyte maturation both in vitro and in vivo. S89G-DMP1 mutant astrocytes failed to express aquaporin 4 and had reduced laminin and ZO1 expression, which resulted in disruption of BBB. Interestingly, overexpression of wild-type DMP1-PG in mouse brain driven by the nestin promoter elevated laminin and ZO1 expression beyond wild type levels and could effectively resisted intravenous mannitol-induced BBB reversible opening. Taken together, our study not only revealed a novel element, i.e., DMP1-PG, that regulated BBB formation, but also assigned a new function to DMP1-PG.
Animals ; Astrocytes ; cytology ; metabolism ; Blood-Brain Barrier ; cytology ; metabolism ; Cells, Cultured ; Extracellular Matrix Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Female ; Glycosylation ; Male ; Mice ; Proteoglycans ; metabolism ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

In the original publication, the label of Fig. 2C should be read as "GFAP/lectin/DAPI" not "DMP1/GFAP/lectin/DAPI".