P2.45. BRINGING MARMOSET TO EBRAINS
Piotr Majka1,2, Shi Bai2, Adam Datta1, Karolina Łabuszewska1, Marcin Syc1, Tomasz Walkiewicz1, Marcello Rosa2
1 Laboratory of Neuroinformatics, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
2 Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia
INTRODUCTION: EBRAINS is one of the most potent platforms for advancing neuroscience research. While it provides extensive support for rodent (predominantly mouse) and human-oriented datasets, it currently supports only one non-human primate (NHP) species despite the critical role of NHPs in bridging the translational gap between rodent and human studies.
AIM(S): To address this limitation, we propose to expand the EBRAINS platform by incorporating a new atlas of the marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) cerebral cortex, which we will call Marmoset@EBRAINS. This atlas will be accompanied by diverse datasets such as neuronal distribution and cellular-level connectivity registered to this new reference framework.
METHOD(S): The proposed atlas will be derived from the Nencki-Monash marmoset brain template (NM template), a gender-balanced, morphological average of 20 young adult marmosets. Based on Nissl histology, the template combines the detailed cytoarchitectural information of histology-based atlases with the isotropic resolution and probabilistic analyses typical of MR-based templates. We will then complement the new framework with multimodal datasets, including comprehensive maps of neuronal distribution in the cortex and results from 143 experiments investigating cortical area connections using fluorescent tracers. Additionally, we will demonstrate how EBRAINS users can map their datasets onto the Marmoset@EBRAINS atlas using existing EBRAINS digital atlasing tools.
RESULTS:
CONCLUSIONS: This project will lay the groundwork for the broad integration of the marmoset as a model species within EBRAINS. The project will directly benefit the EBRAINS initiative by enabling more extensive cross-species analyses and encouraging other marmoset research groups to integrate their datasets with the new framework, thereby expanding the user base. It also represents a significant step towards generalising the available atlasing tools, enhancing the platform's versatility.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT: This project is co-funded by the European Union's Horizon Europe Research Infrastructures programme under grant agreement no. 101147319 (EBRAINS 2.0) and by the National Science Centre (2019/35/D/NZ4/03031).