Cerebral edema is one of the main acute complications arising after irradiation of brain tumors. Microbeam radiation therapy (MRT), an innovative experimental radiotherapy technique using spatially fractionated synchrotron x-rays, has been shown to spare radiosensitive tissues such as mammal brains. The aim of this study was to determine if cerebral edema occurs after MRT using diffusion-weighted MRI and microgravimetry. Prone Swiss nude mice's heads were positioned horizontally in the synchrotron x-ray beam and the upper part of the left hemisphere was irradiated in the antero-posterior direction by an array of 18 planar microbeams (25 mm wide, on-center spacing 211 mm, height 4 mm, entrance dose 312 Gy or 1000 Gy). An apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) was measured at 7 T 1, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days after irradiation. Eventually, the cerebral water content (CWC) was determined by microgravimetry. The ADC and CWC in the irradiated (312 Gy or 1000 Gy) and in the contralateral non-irradiated hemispheres were not significantly different at all measurement times, with two exceptions: (1) a 9% ADC decrease (p < 0.05) was observed in the irradiated cortex 1 day after exposure to 312 Gy, (2) a 0.7% increase (p < 0.05) in the CWC was measured in the irradiated hemispheres 1 day after exposure to 1000 Gy. The results demonstrate the presence of a minor and transient cellular edema (ADC decrease) at 1 day after a 312 Gy exposure, without a significant CWC increase. One day after a 1000 Gy exposure, the CWC increased, while the ADC remained unchanged and may reflect the simultaneous presence of cellular and vasogenic edema. Both types of edema disappear within a week after microbeam exposure which may confirm the normal tissue sparing effect of MRT.

Structural microtubule associated proteins (MAPs) stabilize microtubules, a property that was thought to be essential for development, maintenance and function of neuronal circuits. However, deletion of the structural MAPs in mice does not lead to major neurodevelopment defects. Here we demonstrate a role for MAP6 in brain wiring that is independent of microtubule binding. We find that MAP6 deletion disrupts brain connectivity and is associated with a lack of post-commissural fornix fibres. MAP6 contributes to fornix development by regulating axonal elongation induced by Semaphorin 3E. We show that MAP6 acts downstream of receptor activation through a mechanism that requires a proline-rich domain distinct from its microtubule-stabilizing domains. We also show that MAP6 directly binds to SH3 domain proteins known to be involved in neurite extension and semaphorin function. We conclude that MAP6 is critical to interface guidance molecules with intracellular signalling effectors during the development of cerebral axon tracts.