MOLECULAR MRI OF THE CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM AND NOVEL TECHNIQUES FOR TISSUE BASED PROTEOMICS BASED ON MALDI IMAGING

Bruker Industry Workshop at World Molecular Imaging Congress 2008

Location: WMIC 2008, Nice, France
Room: Clio & Thalie
Date: Friday, September 12, 2008
Time: 17:10-18:40
Capacity: 400 Seats
Register on the WMIC website for this workshop

Structural, functional and molecular MRI of the cardiovascular system
Klaas Nicolay, PhD, Biomedical NMR, Department of Biomedical Engineering Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, the Netherlands

MRI provides many tools to study the structure and function of the cardiovascular system in small animal models of cardiovascular disorders. In the first part of this talk, the technical requirements for high-quality cardiovascular MRI in the mouse and the rat will be discussed. Examples will include advanced means to collect MRI data with the use of retrospective gating techniques that are remarkably immune to ECG impairments often encountered in cases of compromised cardiac function. The high precision of this technology will be illustrated with measurements of cardiac function and elastic properties of the aorta in mouse models of mildly-impaired vascular smooth muscle cell function. MRI enables unique studies of the relationship between local cardiac function and cardiac micro-structure, as measured with high-resolution tagging MRI and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), respectively. DTI provides detailed insights into the myofiber architecture of the heart, which plays a decisive role in local cardiac function. This DTI technology was used to monitor the micro-structural remodeling of the mouse heart following myocardial infarction.

The second portion of the talk will feature the design and application of powerful MRI contrast agents for imaging specific molecular markers of cardiovascular diseases. Several contrast mechanisms can be exploited, including positive (T1) contrast when using paramagnetic gadolinium agents and negative (T2*) contrast in case of superparamagnetic iron oxides. Molecular disease markers are typically present at very low levels, necessitating amplification strategies, such as the assembly of high-payload nano-particles. Applications will focus on molecular MRI of biomarkers of atherosclerosis in apo-E knock-out mice. Examples will be shown of the use of paramagnetic, lipid-based nano-particles to detect markers that play a key role in plaque development and destabilization, including apoptotic activity, collagen and macrophage burden. Finally, the perspectives of the use of hybrid imaging technologies, notably MRI-PET, for small animal cardiovascular studies will be briefly addressed.

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MALDI Imaging, Molecular Histology and Class Imaging - Novel Techniques for Tissue Based Proteomics
Rene Krieg, PhD, Soeren Deininger, PhD, Wolfgang Pusch, PhD, Bruker Daltonik GmbH

This workshop summarizes the principles of the MALDI Molecular Imager, the complete solution to perform MALDI Imaging. One aspect is the sample preparation / matrix application using the unique ImagePrep device, crucial for high lateral resolution and reproducibility. Another important feature is the true unambiguous correlation of MS-data with section’s underlying histology, enabling Molecular HistologyTM. Most important, however are the numerous possibilities of high end biostatistic analysis using dedicated software to reliably classify tissue areas according to their specific protein expression patterns. Finally all possibilities are visualized by appropriate examples from various kinds of tissue samples.

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