NUCL 94 |
| Fundamental biological and clinical questions have driven technological advances in an area of research known as biological molecular imaging. The direct observation of ongoing developmental events in living embryos and the descendants of individual precursors in an intact embryo can be labeled by microinjection of a stable, nontoxic, MR lineage tracers. Since a complete time-series of high-resolution three-dimensional MR images can be analyzed forward or backward in time, it is possible to reconstruct the cell divisions and cell movements responsible for any particular descendant(s). In order to understand the mechanisms of gene expression in whole animals, we have developed a library of multimodal MR probes that are biochemically activated in-vivo. The lanthanide chelates modulate fast water exchange with the paramagnetic center, yielding distinct relaxivity states. The modualtion is triggered by two types of events: i. enzymatic processing of the contrast agent and, ii. the reversible binding of an intracellular messenger. |
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Recent Advances in Molecular Imaging
1:25 PM-5:00 PM, Wednesday, 13 September 2006 Moscone Center -- Room 272, Oral
Division of Nuclear Chemistry & Technology |