Cardio-chemical exchange saturation transfer magnetic resonance imaging reveals molecular signatures of endogenous fibrosis and exogenous contrast media.

Background: Application of emerging molecular MRI techniques, including chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST)-MRI, to cardiac imaging is desirable; however, conventional methods are poorly suited for cardiac imaging, particularly in small animals with rapid heart rates. We developed a CEST-encoded steady state and retrospectively gated cardiac cine imaging sequence in which the presence of fibrosis or paraCEST contrast agents was directly encoded into the steady-state myocardial signal intensity (cardioCEST).

Methods And Results: Development of cardioCEST: A CEST-encoded cardiac cine MRI sequence was implemented on a 9.

Ovarian carcinoma: quantitative biexponential MR imaging relaxometry reveals the dynamic recruitment of ferritin-expressing fibroblasts to the angiogenic rim of tumors.

Purpose: To quantitatively monitor the dynamic perivascular recruitment of ferritin heavy chain (FHC)-overexpressing fibroblasts to ovarian carcinoma xenografts by using R2 mapping and biexponential magnetic resonance (MR) relaxometry.

Materials And Methods: In vivo studies of female mice were approved by the institutional animal care and use committee. In vitro analysis included MR-based R2 relaxation measurements of monkey kidney cell line (CV1) fibroblasts that overexpress FHC, followed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry to assess cellular iron content.