Download **** 1 - School of Life Sciences

NBC Seminar
MRI Contrast Agents and Their Applications on
Molecular/Cellular Imaging
Speaker HONG, Kwan Soo, Ph.D
Korea Basic Science Institute
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a widely used clinical diagnostic tool
because it is non-invasive, provides contrast among soft tissues at high spatial
resolution. Conventional MRI focuses almost exclusively on visualizing anatomy
and has no specificity for any particular cell type. The 'probe' used in
conventional MRI is the proton (1H) in mobile water molecules. New classes of
exogenous MRI probes or reagents are needed to facilitate cell-specific imaging
in living subjects. Elucidating the trafficking pathways of cells (immune and
stem cells) in vivo, together with their migratory properties in relation to their
differentiation and activation status, is useful for understanding how the
immune system interacts with the related diseases. Methods based on tissue
sampling to monitor immune responses are inadequate for repeatedly
characterizing the responses of the immune system in different organs. A
solution to this problem might come from molecular and cellular imaging - a
branch of biomedical sciences that combines biotechnology and imaging
methods to characterize, in vivo, the molecular and cellular processes involved
in normal and pathologic states. The targeted cells are labeled with magnetic
nano-particle-based MR contrast agents (CAs) in vivo or ex vivo, which gives
contrast where the labelled cells are in vivo by MR imaging. The CA-mediated in
vivo molecular/cellular imaging provides new insights into the biology of cell
trafficking and migration, in particular, the recruitment of immune cells into
immune disease sites, and the longitudinal tracing of the transplanted cells
homing to the disease sites.
When: 4:15 PM on Mar. 31 (Thu.)
Where: Engineering Building 1, E104
Contact: Prof. HyungJoon Cho(2520) / [email protected]
School of Nano-Bioscience & Chemical Engineering
UNIST