MRI of transgene expression: correlation to therapeutic gene expression.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can provide high-resolution 3D maps of structural and functional information, yet its use of mapping in vivo gene expression has only recently been explored. A potential application for this technology is to noninvasively image transgene expression. The current study explores the latter using a nonregulatable internalizing engineered transferrin receptor (ETR) whose expression can be probed for with a superparamagnetic Tf-CLIO probe. Using an HSV-based amplicon vector system for transgene delivery, we demonstrate that: 1) ETR is a sensitive MR marker gene; 2) several transgenes can be efficiently expressed from a single amplicon; 3) expression of each transgene results in functional gene product; and 4) ETR gene expression correlates with expression of therapeutic genes when the latter are contained within the same amplicon. These data, taken together, suggest that MRI of ETR expression can serve as a surrogate for measuring therapeutic transgene expression.

Magnetic relaxation switches capable of sensing molecular interactions.

Highly sensitive, efficient, and high-throughput biosensors are required for genomic and proteomic data acquisition in complex biological samples and potentially for in vivo applications. To facilitate these studies, we have developed biocompatible magnetic nanosensors that act as magnetic relaxation switches (MRS) to detect molecular interactions in the reversible self-assembly of disperse magnetic particles into stable nanoassemblies. Using four different types of molecular interactions (DNA-DNA, protein-protein, protein-small molecule, and enzyme reactions) as model systems, we show that the MRS technology can be used to detect these interactions with high efficiency and sensitivity using magnetic relaxation measurements including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Furthermore, the magnetic changes are detectable in turbid media and in whole-cell lysates without protein purification. The developed magnetic nanosensors can be used in a variety of biological applications such as in homogeneous assays, as reagents in miniaturized microfluidic systems, as affinity ligands for rapid and high-throughput magnetic readouts of arrays, as probes for magnetic force microscopy, and potentially for in vivo imaging.

"Seeing inside the body": MR imaging of gene expression.

The goal of this review is to describe the developments and recent advances that are enabling applications of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging for non-invasive imaging of gene expression. Guiding application of this technology has been the need to test, in vivo and in real time, hypotheses developed in multiple scientific fields. Advances made in the human genome project and our increasing understanding of the molecular basis of normal and disease physiology have defined questions that will only be answered when specific molecular imaging modalities are developed. In this review we will briefly summarize the salient features of MR imaging to provide the backdrop for a more detailed discussion of specific applications of MR imaging of gene expression. We will conclude with the insights gained from genomic approaches and how they might be exploited for MR imaging of gene expression in the future.

MRI of insulitis in autoimmune diabetes.

Development of imaging techniques that would allow the mapping of immune cells in vivo could greatly aid our understanding of a number of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The current study focused on imaging of autoimmune destruction of the insulin-producing pancreatic beta-cells by cytotoxic lymphocytes, the cause of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM; Type 1 diabetes). Using high-resolution MR microscopy and a conventional clinical MR imaging system, it was possible to visualize the infiltration of immune cells in the diabetic mouse pancreas. Mouse lymphocytes were visualized by magnetically labeling them with recently developed magnetic nanoparticles (CLIO-Tat). The results from this study could potentially lead to detection of immune infiltration during diabetes formation in vivo, which would be one of the earliest parameters of disease development.

High throughput magnetic resonance imaging for evaluating targeted nanoparticle probes.

The ability to image specific molecular targets in vivo would have significant impact in allowing earlier disease detection and in tailoring molecular therapies. One of the rate-limiting steps in the development of novel compounds as reporter probes has been the lack of cell-based, biologically relevant, high throughput screening methods. Here we describe the development and validation of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a technique to rapidly screen compounds that are potential MR reporter agents for their interaction with specific cellular targets. We show that MR imaging can (1) evaluate thousands of samples simultaneously and rapidly, (2) provide exceedingly accurate measurements, and (3) provide receptor binding/internalization data as validated by radioactive assays. The technique allows the screening of libraries of peptide-nanoparticle conjugates against target cells and the identification of conjugates that may be subsequently used as reporter agents in vivo. The technology should greatly accelerate the development of target-specific or cell-specific MR contrast agents.

Annexin V-CLIO: a nanoparticle for detecting apoptosis by MRI.

Annexin V, which recognizes the phosphatidylserine of apoptotic cells, was conjugated to crosslinked iron oxide (CLIO) nanoparticles, a functionalized superparamagnetic preparation developed for target-specific magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The resulting nanoparticle had an average of 2.7 annexin V proteins linked per CLIO nanoparticle through disulfide bonds. Using camptothecin to induce apoptosis, a mixture of Jurkat T cells (69% healthy and 31% apoptotic) was incubated with annexin V-CLIO and was applied to magnetic columns. The result was an almost complete removal of the apoptotic cells (> 99%). In a phantom MRI experiment, untreated control cells (12% apoptotic cells, 88% healthy cells) and camptothecin-treated cells (65% apoptotic cells, 35% healthy cells) were incubated with either annexin V-CLIO (1.0, 0.5, and 0.1 microgram Fe/mL) or with unlabeled CLIO. A significant signal decrease of camptothecin-treated cells relative to untreated cells was observed even at the lowest concentration tested. Unmodified CLIO failed to cause a significant signal change of apoptotic cells. Hence, annexin V-CLIO allowed the identification of cell suspensions containing apoptotic cells by MRI even at very low concentrations of magnetic substrate. Conjugation of annexin V to CLIO affords a strategy for the development of a MRI imaging probe for detecting apoptosis.