Myocardial substrate and route of administration determine acute cardiac retention and lung bio-distribution of cardiosphere-derived cells.

Background: Quantification of acute myocardial retention and lung bio-distribution of cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs) following transplantation is important to improve engraftment.

Methods And Results: We studied acute(1 hour) cardiac/lung retention in 4 groups (n = 25) of rats (normal--NL, acute ischemia-reperfusion--AI-RM, acute permanent ligation-PL, and chronic infarct by ischemia-reperfusion--CI-R) using intra-myocardial delivery, 1 group using intracoronary delivery (acute ischemia-reperfusion, AI-RC, n = 5) and 1 group using intravenous delivery (acute ischemia-reperfusion, AI-RV, n = 5) of CDCs by PET. Cardiac retention was similar in the NL, AI-RM, CI-R, and A-IRC groups (13.

CT Hounsfield units of brown adipose tissue increase with activation: preclinical and clinical studies.

Unlabelled: Brown adipose tissue (BAT) densities assessed as CT Hounsfield units (HUs) were evaluated in a rodent model and in patients to determine whether HUs changed in relation to BAT activity.

Methods: Serial (18)F-FDG PET/CT was performed on rats under both room temperature control conditions and after 4 h of cold-stimulation, which is known to activate BAT. The maximum standardized uptake values and CT HUs of BAT were measured, and tissues were examined in the laboratory.

Noninvasive quantification and optimization of acute cell retention by in vivo positron emission tomography after intramyocardial cardiac-derived stem cell delivery.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to quantify acute myocardial retention of cardiac-derived stem cells (CDCs) and evaluate different delivery methods with positron emission tomography (PET).

Background: Success of stem cell transplantation for cardiac regeneration is partially limited by low retention/engraftment of the delivered cells. A clinically applicable method for accurate quantification of cell retention would enable optimization of cell delivery.

Induction of thyroid gene expression and radioiodine uptake in melanoma cells: novel therapeutic implications.

Both the MAP kinase and PI3K/Akt pathways play an important role in the pathogenesis of melanoma. We conducted the present study to test the hypothesis that targeting the two pathways to potently induce cell inhibition accompanied with thyroid iodide-handling gene expression for adjunct radioiodine ablation could be a novel effective therapeutic strategy for melanoma. We used specific shRNA approaches and inhibitors to individually or dually suppress the MAP kinase and PI3K/Akt pathways and examined the effects on a variety of molecular and cellular responses of melanoma cells that harbored activating genetic alterations in the two pathways.

Ectopic expression of the sodium-iodide symporter enables imaging of transplanted cardiac stem cells in vivo by single-photon emission computed tomography or positron emission tomography.

Objectives: We examined the sodium-iodide symporter (NIS), which promotes in vivo cellular uptake of technetium 99m ((99m)Tc) or iodine 124 ((124)I), as a reporter gene for cell tracking by single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) or positron emission tomography (PET) imaging.

Background: Stem cells offer the promise of cardiac repair. Stem cell labeling is a prerequisite to tracking cell fate in vivo.

Targeting of VX2 rabbit liver tumor by selective delivery of 3-bromopyruvate: a biodistribution and survival study.

The aim of this study was to determine the biodistribution and tumor targeting ability of (14)C-labeled 3-bromopyruvate ([(14)C]3-BrPA) after i.a. and i.

Specificity of the anti-glycolytic activity of 3-bromopyruvate confirmed by FDG uptake in a rat model of breast cancer.

Purpose: To evaluate the anti-glycolytic effects of 3-BrPA on rats bearing RMT mammary tumors, by determining FDG uptake after intravenous administration of the therapeutic dose.

Materials And Methods: Sixteen rats bearing RMT tumors were treated either with 15 mM 3-BrPA in 2.5 ml of PBS or with 2.

In vitro evaluation of radioprotective and radiosensitizing effects of rituximab.

Unlabelled: Clinical radioimmunotherapies with anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies involve administering a predose of unlabeled anti-CD20 antibodies to favorably alter the biodistribution profile of the subsequently administered radiolabeled antibodies and mediate antitumor effects. Prior in vitro data suggested that unlabeled anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies radiosensitize lymphoma cells as well. We assessed the antiproliferative and possible radiosensitizing capabilities of an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, rituximab.

How reproducible is bioluminescent imaging of tumor cell growth? Single time point versus the dynamic measurement approach.

To determine the most robust and reproducible parameters for noninvasively estimating tumor cell burden in a murine model, we used real-time in vivo bioluminescent imaging to assess the growth kinetics and dissemination of luciferase-transfected Raji B-cell lymphoma. Bioluminescent signals were acquired every minute for 40 minutes after luciferin injection every other day post-tumor injection. The total 40-minute area under the curve (AUC) of photon intensity (photons/second) was calculated and compared with simplified fixed time point observations (every 5 minutes from 5 to 40 minutes after substrate injection).

Comparison of uptake of multiple clinical radiotracers into brown adipose tissue under cold-stimulated and nonstimulated conditions.

Unlabelled: Our objective was to determine whether multiple clinically useful radiotracers accumulate in brown adipose tissue (BAT) and to assess their uptake in rats kept at room temperature or exposed to a cold environment.

Methods: The following radiotracers were injected intravenously into groups of 6 female Wistar rats: (201)Tl-chloride (TlCl), (123)I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG), (99m)Tc-sestamibi (MIBI), (18)F- or (3)H-FDG, (3)H-l-methionine, and (3)H-thymidine. BAT-stimulated animals were maintained at 4 degrees C for 4 h before tracer injection, whereas control animals were kept at approximately 22.

Effect of nicotine and ephedrine on the accumulation of 18F-FDG in brown adipose tissue.

Unlabelled: This study evaluated the effect of various beta-adrenergic agonists on (18)F-FDG uptake in brown adipose tissue (BAT) in rats using ex vivo biodistribution studies.

Methods: Caffeine (10 mg/kg of body weight, n = 4), ephedrine (5 mg/kg of body weight, n = 4), nicotine (0.8 mg/kg of body weight, n = 9), or a mixture of nicotine and ephedrine (0.

Effects of pegfilgrastim on normal biodistribution of 18F-FDG: preclinical and clinical studies.

Unlabelled: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of pegfilgrastim, a long-acting granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, on the normal biodistribution of (18)F-FDG in an animal model and in humans.

Methods: Two groups of 12 rats received a single subcutaneous injection of either normal saline or pegfilgrastim. One, 7, 14, and 21 d after injection, biodistribution studies were performed 1 h after (18)F-FDG injection.

In vitro evaluation of adenosine 5'-monophosphate as an imaging agent of tumor metabolism.

Unlabelled: Adenosine appears to play an important role in tumor growth and metastasis. Synthesized (11)C-adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP) has recently been reported as a potential tumor-imaging radiotracer.

Methods: A variety of human tumor cell lines (SKOV-3, SCC-15, U251, U87, Raji, and Daudi) were incubated with 3.

Stunning and its effect on 3H-FDG uptake and key gene expression in breast cancer cells undergoing chemotherapy.

Unlabelled: Shortly after chemotherapy, relatively little is known about the expression of key genes and proteins involved in glycolysis. Doxorubicin (DOX) and 5-fluorouracil (5FU) are two commonly used chemotherapy agents that work through differing pathways. Glucose transporter-1 (Glut-1) and hexokinase II (HKII) proteins are highly expressed in many breast carcinomas, but their status while undergoing DOX or 5FU chemotherapy has not been systematically evaluated.

Intense (18)F-FDG uptake in brown fat can be reduced pharmacologically.

Unlabelled: Physiologic (18)F-FDG uptake in areas of supraclavicular fat in humans ("USA-Fat") has recently been recognized as (18)F-FDG uptake in apparent brown adipose tissue (BAT) using fused PET/CT technology. In this study, we evaluated (18)F-FDG uptake in BAT of rats to determine whether pharmacologic or physiologic interventions affect the uptake, knowing that BAT has a high density of adrenergic innervation.

Methods: Seven- to 8-wk-old female Lewis rats receiving intravenous (18)F-FDG injections were examined under various conditions to evaluate (18)F-FDG biodistribution into interscapular BAT and major organs.

CDC91L1 (PIG-U) is a newly discovered oncogene in human bladder cancer.

Genomic amplification at 20q11-13 is a common event in human cancers. We isolated a germline translocation breakpoint at 20q11 from a bladder cancer patient. We identified CDC91L1, the gene encoding CDC91L1 (also called phosphatidylinositol glycan class U (PIG-U), a transamidase complex unit in the glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchoring pathway), as the only gene whose expression was affected by the translocation.

High-throughput molecular analysis of urine sediment for the detection of bladder cancer by high-density single-nucleotide polymorphism array.

The detection of urothelial malignancies remains challenging. The majority of patients diagnosed with bladder cancer require life-long surveillance for disease recurrence. Monitoring strategies rely predominantly on invasive endoscopic techniques, which are inconvenient and uncomfortable.

Inactivation of LKB1/STK11 is a common event in adenocarcinomas of the lung.

Frequent losses of chromosome 19p have recently been observed in sporadic lung adenocarcinomas, targeting the location of a critical tumor suppressor gene. Here we performed fine mapping of the short arm of chromosome 19 and found that the LKB1/STK11 gene mapped in the minimal-deleted region. Because germ-line mutations at LKB1/STK11 result in the Peutz-Jeghers syndrome and an increased risk of cancer, we performed a detailed genetic screen of the LKB1/STK11 gene in lung tumors.