automated-measurement-microcirculatory-blood-flow-velocity-pulmonary

Automated Measurement of Microcirculatory Blood Flow Velocity in Pulmonary Metastases of Rats

Because the lung is a major target organ of metastatic disease, animal models to study the physiology of pulmonary metastases are of great importance. ...

Duke University Medical Center

The influence of the tumor microenvironment and hypoxia plays a significant role in determining cancer progression, treatment response, and treatment resistance. That the tumor microenvironment is highly heterogeneous with significant intratumor and intertumor variability presents a significant challenge in developing effective cancer therapies. Critical to understanding the role of the tumor microenvironment is the ability to dynamically quantify oxygen levels in the vasculature and tissue in order to elucidate the roles of oxygen supply and consumption, spatially and temporally. To this end, we describe the use of hyperspectral imaging to characterize hemoglobin absorption to quantify hemoglobin content and oxygen saturation, as well as dual emissive fluorescent∕phosphorescent boron nanoparticles, which serve as ratiometric indicators of tissue oxygen tension. Applying these techniques to a window-chamber tumor model illustrates the role of fluctuations in hemoglobin saturation in driving changes in tissue oxygenation, the two being significantly correlated (r = 0.77). Finally, a green-fluorescence-protein reporter for hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) provides an endpoint for hypoxic stress in the tumor, which is used to demonstrate a significant association between tumor hypoxia dynamics and HIF-1 activity in an in vivo demonstration of the technique.

Optical imaging of tumor hypoxia dynamics.

Optical techniques for functional imaging in mice have a number of key advantages over other common imaging modalities such as magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography or computed tomography, including high resolution, low cost and an extensive library of available contrast agents and reporter genes. A major challenge to such work is the limited penetration depth imposed by tissue turbidity. We describe a window chamber technique by which these limitations can be avoided. This facilitates the study of a wide range of processes, with potential endpoints including longitudinal gene expression, vascular remodeling and angiogenesis, and tumor growth and invasion. We further describe several quantitative imaging and analysis techniques for characterizing in vivo fluorescence properties and functional endpoints, including vascular morphology and oxygenation. The procedure takes ∼2 h to complete, plus up to several weeks for tumor growth and treatment procedures.

In vivo optical molecular imaging and analysis in mice using dorsal window chamber models applied to hypoxia, vasculature and fluorescent reporters.

To investigate whether the systemically administered anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody bevacizumab could improve regional chemotherapy treatment of advanced extremity melanoma by enhancing delivery and tumor uptake of regionally infused melphalan (LPAM).

Bevacizumab-induced alterations in vascular permeability and drug delivery: a novel approach to augment regional chemotherapy for in-transit melanoma.

Fluorescent proteins enable in vivo characterization of a wide and growing array of morphological and functional biomarkers. To fully capitalize on the spatial and temporal information afforded by these reporter proteins, a method for imaging these proteins at high resolution longitudinally is required. This chapter describes the use of window chamber models as a means of imaging fluorescent proteins and other optical parameters. Such models essentially involve surgically implanting a window through which tumor or normal tissue can be imaged using existing microscopy techniques. This enables acquisition of high-quality images down to the cellular or subcellular scale, exploiting the diverse array of optical contrast mechanisms, while also maintaining the native microenvironment of the tissue of interest. This makes these techniques applicable to a wide array of problems in the biomedical sciences.

High-resolution in vivo imaging of fluorescent proteins using window chamber models.

Hemodynamic properties of vascular beds are of great interest in a variety of clinical and laboratory settings. However, there presently exists no automated, accurate, technically simple method for generating blood velocity maps of complex microvessel networks.

Quantitative mapping of hemodynamics in the lung, brain, and dorsal window chamber-grown tumors using a novel, automated algorithm.

We demonstrate an optical strategy using intravital microscopy of dorsal skin flap window chamber models to image glucose uptake and vascular oxygenation in vivo. Glucose uptake was imaged using a fluorescent glucose analog, 2-[N-(7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diaxol-4-yl)amino]-2-deoxyglucose (2-NBDG). SO2 was imaged using the differential absorption properties of oxygenated [HbO2] and deoxygenated hemoglobin [dHb]. This study was carried out on two sibling murine mammary adenocarcinoma lines, 4T1 and 4T07. 2-NBDG uptake in the 4T1 tumors was lowest when rates of delivery and clearance were lowest, indicating perfusion-limited uptake in poorly oxygenated tumor regions. For increasing rates of delivery that were still lower than the glucose consumption rate (as measured in vitro), both 2-NBDG uptake and the clearance rate from the tumor increased. When the rate of delivery of 2-NBDG exceeded the glucose consumption rate, 2-NBDG uptake decreased with any further increase in rate of delivery, but the clearance rate continued to increase. This inflection point was not observed in the 4T07 tumors due to an absence of low delivery rates close to the glucose consumption rate. In the 4T07 tumors, 2-NBDG uptake increased with increasing rates of delivery at low rates of clearance. Our results demonstrate that 2-NBDG uptake in tumors is influenced by the rates of delivery and clearance of the tracer. The rates of delivery and clearance are, in turn, dependent on vascular oxygenation of the tumors. Knowledge of the kinetics of tracer uptake as well as vascular oxygenation is essential to make an informed assessment of glucose demand of a tumor.

Delivery rate affects uptake of a fluorescent glucose analog in murine metastatic breast cancer.

Tissue-engineered skeletal muscle can serve as a physiological model of natural muscle and a potential therapeutic vehicle for rapid repair of severe muscle loss and injury. Here, we describe a platform for engineering and testing highly functional biomimetic muscle tissues with a resident satellite cell niche and capacity for robust myogenesis and self-regeneration in vitro. Using a mouse dorsal window implantation model and transduction with fluorescent intracellular calcium indicator, GCaMP3, we nondestructively monitored, in real time, vascular integration and the functional state of engineered muscle in vivo. During a 2-wk period, implanted engineered muscle exhibited a steady ingrowth of blood-perfused microvasculature along with an increase in amplitude of calcium transients and force of contraction. We also demonstrated superior structural organization, vascularization, and contractile function of fully differentiated vs. undifferentiated engineered muscle implants. The described in vitro and in vivo models of biomimetic engineered muscle represent enabling technology for novel studies of skeletal muscle function and regeneration.

Biomimetic engineered muscle with capacity for vascular integration and functional maturation in vivo.

There were two primary objectives of this study: (1) to determine whether treatment of a tumour site with systemically administered thermally sensitive liposomes and local hyperthermia (HT) for triggered release would have dual anti-tumour effect on the primary heated tumour as well as an unheated secondary tumour in a distant site, and (2) to determine the ability of non-invasive optical spectroscopy to predict treatment outcome. The optical end points studied included drug levels, metabolic markers flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD), nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NAD(P)H), and physiological markers (total haemoglobin (Hb) and Hb oxygen saturation) before and after treatment.

Article	Year
Optical imaging of tumor hypoxia dynamics. Journal of biomedical optics\| PubMed ID: 21198195	2010
In vivo optical molecular imaging and analysis in mice using dorsal window chamber models applied to hypoxia, vasculature and fluorescent reporters. Nature protocols\| PubMed ID: 21886101	2011
Bevacizumab-induced alterations in vascular permeability and drug delivery: a novel approach to augment regional chemotherapy for in-transit melanoma. Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research\| PubMed ID: 22496203	2012
High-resolution in vivo imaging of fluorescent proteins using window chamber models. Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.)\| PubMed ID: 22700402	2012
Quantitative mapping of hemodynamics in the lung, brain, and dorsal window chamber-grown tumors using a novel, automated algorithm. Microcirculation (New York, N.Y. : 1994)\| PubMed ID: 23781901	2013
Delivery rate affects uptake of a fluorescent glucose analog in murine metastatic breast cancer. PloS one\| PubMed ID: 24204635	2013
Biomimetic engineered muscle with capacity for vascular integration and functional maturation in vivo. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America\| PubMed ID: 24706792	2014
Systemic anti-tumour effects of local thermally sensitive liposome therapy. International journal of hyperthermia : the official journal of European Society for Hyperthermic Oncology, North American Hyperthermia Group\| PubMed ID: 25164143	2014

Andrew N. Fontanella

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