Artificial intelligence analyzes hole mouse bodies down the cell level
The researchers used MouseMapper, among other things, to investigate the effects of obesity on the entire organism of mice. In the process, they discovered previously unknown structural damage to sensitive facial nerves of the trigeminal system. This particularly affected the infraorbital nerve, which is responsible for tactile perception via the whiskers. Mice with fatty diets had significantly fewer nerve branches and responded worse to neural stimuli.
Additional molecular analyses revealed changes in signaling pathways associated with inflammations and remodeling and degeneration processes of nerve cells. It was particularly noteworthy that scientists had already found the same molecular patterns in tissue samples from humans with obesity. This established the first direct connection between observations in the mouse model and changes in humans.
“Our finding that obesity can clearly damage sensory facial nerves was particularly surprising,” explains Dr. Doris Kaltenecker, 1st author of the study. “The fact that the same molecular patterns were found in humans makes the results all the more relevant.”
In addition to nerve damage, MouseMapper documented extensive inflammatory processes in various organs of obese animals. Fatty tissue, the liver, and the abdominal cavity were most strongly affected. The researchers found larger accumulations of immune cells in these areas – an indication of chronic inflammatory responses throughout the organism.
