CHAMBER (CHemoarchitectonic Atlas of the Mammalian Brain as an E-Resource) is an open resource for “chemoarchtectonics” of the brain, powered by OMERO, an open-source server software for image sharing, and hosted by MRC Brain Network Dynamics Unit at University of Oxford.
Currently, we only have one dataset for the mouse brain consists of 33 parasagittal sections labeled for Nissl staining and immunoreactivities for calretinin, calbindin, and parvalbumin at submicron resolution.
We plan to expand the dataset by adding ~20 more markers/antibodies in the next phase. Currently, our primary focus is on neurotransmitter-specific markers of axons and axon terminals, including VGluT1, VGluT2 (both glutamatergic), GAD67 (GABAergic), GlyT2 (glycinergic), VIAAT/VGAT (both GABAergic and glycinergic), VAChT (cholinergic), TH (dopaminergic and noradrenergic), DAT (dopaminergic), and serotonin (serotonergic).
Unlike mRNA data covered by Allen Brain Atlas, which indicate the position of the cell bodies of the cells that express particular genes, these axonal markers reflect the projection of specific types of neurons, and are thus particularly informative in empirically delineating brain regions.
If you have a suggestion of maker/antibody, please let us know! If you know which antibody works the best, that information will be very helpful too.
Best,
Kouichi