Engineered mice play an ever-increasing role in defining connections between genotype and phenotypic expression. The potential of magnetic resonance microscopy (MRM) for morphologic phenotyping in the mouse has previously been demonstrated; however, applications have been limited by long scan times, availability of the technology, and a foundation of normative data. This article describes an integrated environment for high-resolution study of normal, transgenic, and mutant mouse models at embryonic and neonatal stages. Three-dimensional images are shown at an isotropic resolution of 19.5 μm (voxel volumes of 8 pL), acquired in 3 h at embryonic days 10.5–19.5 (10 stages) and postnatal days 0–32 (6 stages). A web-accessible atlas encompassing this data was developed, and for critical stages of embryonic development (prenatal days 14.5–18.5), >200 anatomical structures have been identified and labeled. Also, matching optical histology and analysis tools are provided to compare multiple specimens at multiple developmental stages. The utility of the approach is demonstrated in characterizing cardiac septal defects in conditional mutant embryos lacking the Smoothened receptor gene. Finally, a collaborative paradigm is presented that allows sharing of data across the scientific community. This work makes magnetic resonance microscopy of the mouse embryo and neonate broadly available with carefully annotated normative data and an extensive environment for collaborations.

PNAS 2008 105:12331-12336; published ahead of print August 19, 2008, doi:10.1073/pnas.0805747105