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Abstract #1272

In Vivo Characterization of a New Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Mouse Model with Conventional and Molecular MRI

Ahmed Klink1, Joeri Heynens2, Beatriz Herranz3, Hendrik M. Sanders2, Gustav J. Strijkers2, Klaas Nicolay2, Maarten Merkx, Ziad Mallat4, Willem J.M. Mulder1, Zahi A. Fayad1

1Translational and Molecular Imaging Institute, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States; 2Biomedical NMR, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, Netherlands; 3Vascular Imaging and Atherothrombosis, CNIC, Madrid, Spain; 4Paris Cardiovascular Research Center, INSERM, U689, Paris, France


The in vivo characterization of a novel mouse model of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) was achieved with both multi-contrast MRI (PDW, T2W, T1W, TOF) and collagen-targeted MR molecular imaging. The latter was performed with fluorescent/paramagnetic micelles conjugated to the collagen-specific protein CNA35. This allowed the imaging of the collagen turnover believed to be key in AAA progression and rupture. We established that these MRI tools were very valuable for the longitudinal investigation of AAA progression in this mouse model of AAA.