"Functional" PET/MRI and Protein Engineering of Hepatic OATP Transporter Activity
Webinar Overview
In his talk titled "Functional" PET/MRI and protein engineering of hepatic OATP transporter activity, Dr. Shapiro discusses the critical role of hepatic organic anion transporting polypeptides (OATPs) in mediating the cellular uptake of hepatospecific MRI contrast agents. He highlights two innovative ways to exploit OATP transporters to enhance biomedical imaging. First, he describes the application of simultaneous PET/MRI to assess hepatic function by pairing MRI contrast agents with complementary PET tracers, achieving a more comprehensive evaluation of liver function in vivo. Second, he introduces the use of OATPs as MRI reporter proteins, emphasizing recent protein engineering advancements aimed at enhancing the transport efficiency of OATPs and discussing novel imaging strategies to further optimize this approach.
On Demand Session
Speaker
Erik M. Shapiro, PhD
Associate Chair and Professor of Radiology, Michigan State University
Erik Shapiro is Associate Chair of Research and a Professor in the Department of Radiology at Michigan State University. His Molecular and Cellular Imaging Laboratory (MCIL) develops and uses magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), and x-ray computed tomography (CT) for molecular and cellular imaging of biological phenomena, regenerative medicine, and early detection of disease.
Dr. Shapiro graduated from the State University of New York at Binghamton with a B.S. in chemistry and holds a M.S. and Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania. He conducted his post-doctoral work in molecular imaging at the National Institutes of Health. He was Assistant Professor of Diagnostic Radiology at Yale University School of Medicine prior to joining MSU. He is a recipient of an NIH Director’s New Innovator Award and the Distinguished Investigator Award from The Academy for Radiology & Biomedical Imaging Research.