Intravital fluorescence microscopic molecular imaging of atherosclerosis
1Cardiovascular Research Center and Cardiology Division, Center for Molecular Imaging Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. fjaffer@mgh.harvard.edu
Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton, N.J.)
|December 15, 2010
Abstract:
Atherosclerosis is a lipid deposition and inflammatory disease that results in considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide. Advances in molecular imaging, particularly near-infrared fluorescence imaging, are now enabling the in vivo study of fundamental biological processes that govern atherogenesis and its complications. Here we describe applications of near-infrared fluorescence reporter technology and intravital fluorescence microscopy to elucidate important biological processes in atherosclerosis in vivo.
