Abstract #1832

Nicolay K, Strijkers G, van Tilborg G, Mulder W, Reutelingsperger C, Chin P

Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, plays an important role in the etiology of a variety of diseases, including cancer. Visualization of apoptosis would allow both early detection of therapy efficiency and evaluation of disease progression. To that aim we developed a novel annexinA5-conjugated bimodal nanoparticle that is composed of a quantum dot with a paramagnetic lipid coating, which can be used both for in vivo optical imaging and MRI. Both fluorescence microscopy and MRI demonstrated a high specificity of the annexinA5-contrast agents for apoptotic cells, which confirms its potential for the detection of apoptosis with both imaging modalities in vivo.