Hai-Ling Margaret Cheng1,2, Syed S. Islam3,
Yasir Loai3, Roula Antoon3, Marine Beaumont1,
Walid A. Farhat3
1Research Institute & Diagnostic
Imaging, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; 2Medical
Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; 3Division
of Urology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Cell-seeded
natural tissue scaffolds hold promise for tissue-engineering large organs
(e.g. the urinary bladder matrix for regenerating different tissue types).
However, our understanding of cell-natural matrix interaction is limited, and
its influence on MRI characterization is unknown. This study explores quantitative
MRI at 1.5 T for investigating cell-matrix interaction and matrix development
in a smooth muscle cell-seeded bladder model. Competing with cell presence
was matrix degradation due to cell-released collagenase, noted for the first
time and perhaps unique to natural matrices. Quantitative T1, T2, and
diffusion measurements are consistent with collagen breakdown, with
multicomponent T2 providing the best specificity.