Visualization of pulmonary inflammation using noninvasive fluorescence molecular imaging

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Imaging
• Pulmonary Medicine
• Molecular Biology

Background:

• Visualizing molecular processes in pulmonary diseases like asthma, COPD, and ARDS is crucial for diagnosis and drug discovery.
• Current methods lack noninvasive, quantitative approaches for in vivo lung imaging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To apply normalized transillumination and fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) for noninvasive, quantitative in vivo imaging of the mouse lung.
• To demonstrate the visualization and quantification of pulmonary response in a murine model of airway inflammation.

Main Methods:

• Utilized FMT with a cathepsin-sensitive activatable fluorescent probe and an intravascular agent in mice.
• Induced airway inflammation using intranasal LPS.
• Correlated FMT results with in vitro methods like Western blot, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), and immunohistochemistry.

Main Results:

• FMT successfully visualized and quantified cysteine protease activation and vascular distribution in the mouse lung.
• Imaging revealed the inflammatory response to LPS insult.
• FMT data showed good correlation with established in vitro laboratory tests.

Conclusions:

• Fluorescence tomography can noninvasively and longitudinally characterize physiological and cellular processes in inflammatory lung diseases.
• FMT is a highly appropriate technology for biomedical research and drug discovery.