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Molecular imaging with aquaporin-based reporter genes: quantitative considerations from Monte Carlo diffusion
Rochishnu Chowdhury1, Jinyang Wan2, Remy Gardier3
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.
Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology
|June 19, 2023
Summary
This study introduces a Monte Carlo model to distinguish aquaporin-driven magnetic resonance imaging contrast from background tissue signals. The method accurately quantifies aquaporin-expressing cells in vivo for biomedical and synthetic biology applications.
Area of Science:
- Biophysics
- Molecular Imaging
- Synthetic Biology
Background:
- Aquaporins enhance cellular water diffusion for magnetic resonance (MR) contrast, enabling molecular imaging in deep tissues.
- Distinguishing aquaporin-induced contrast from inherent tissue properties (cell size, density) is a significant challenge.
- Quantitative methods are needed to measure genetic device performance in vivo.
Approach:
- Developed and validated a Monte Carlo model to analyze the impact of cell radius and intracellular volume fraction on aquaporin MR signals.
- Implemented a differential imaging approach using time-dependent diffusivity to isolate aquaporin contrast.
- Utilized Monte Carlo simulations to correlate diffusivity with aquaporin-expressing cell volume fraction.
Key Points:
- The model quantitatively links cell structural factors to aquaporin signal generation.
- Differential imaging effectively separates aquaporin contrast from background noise.
- A mapping was established to accurately determine the percentage of aquaporin-expressing cells.
Conclusions:
- This work provides a framework for using aquaporins as genetic imaging tools.
- The developed methods enable quantitative assessment of aquaporin-based biosensors and genetic devices.
- Applications are significant for in vivo imaging in biomedicine and synthetic biology.
