Established in 2017, the ION Anatomical Research Platform aims to comprehensively map the cell-type-specific, whole-brain mesoscale input-output connectome in primates. This initiative seeks to systematically elucidate the organizational principles underlying primate neural network architecture. To achieve this goal, we will:
(a) Employ single-cell transcriptomic and epigenomic technologies to characterize diverse cell types within the central nervous systems of human and non-human primate specimens.
(b) Integrate primate whole-brain spatial transcriptomic atlases with multimodal MRI data to systematically delineate cortical and subcortical region boundaries, thereby constructing a high-resolution 3D standardized brain template and parcellation atlas for primates.
(c) Utilize retrograde tracing to map the mesoscale input connectome in non-human primates; apply enhancer-driven, cell-type-specific viral vectors for anterograde tracing; and use fMOST (fluorescence Micro-Optical Sectioning Tomography) to map whole-brain output connectomes with single-axon resolution across defined cell types.
