In Vivo Dual Fluorescence Imaging to Detect Joint Destruction

Diagnosis of cartilage damage in early stages of arthritis is vital to impede the progression of disease. In this regard, considerable progress has been made in near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) optical imaging technique. Arthritis can develop due to various mechanisms but one of the main contributors is the production of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), enzymes that can degrade components of the extracellular matrix. Especially, MMP-1 and MMP-13 have main roles in rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis because they enhance collagen degradation in the process of arthritis. We present here a novel NIRF imaging strategy that can be used to determine the activity of MMPs and cartilage damage simultaneously by detection of exposed type II collagen in cartilage tissue. In this study, retro-orbital injection of mixed fluorescent dyes, MMPSense 750 FAST (MMP750) dye and Alexa Fluor 680 conjugated monoclonal mouse antibody immune-reactive to type II collagen, was administered in the arthritic mice. Both dyes were detected with different intensity according to degree of joint destruction in the animal. Thus, our dual fluorescence imaging method can be used to detect cartilage damage as well as MMP activity simultaneously in early stage arthritis.