Abstract #3166

Nanoparticle Detection of Vascular Inflammation in Mouse Carotid Artery at 7T

Hisanori Kosuge¹, Masahiro Terashima¹, Masaki Uchida², Sarah Sherlock³, Philip S. Tsao¹, Mark J. Young², Trevor Douglas², Hongjie Dai³, Michael V. McConnell¹

¹Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; ²Chemistry and Biochemistry, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA; ³Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

Inflammation plays a critical role in the progression of atherosclerosis. Magnetite incorporated human ferritin protein cages and graphite/FeCo core-shell nanocrystals may allow noninvasive high-field MRI detection of vascular macrophages in mouse arteries. We demonstrate that MRI at 7T can detect vascular macrophages with magnetite protein cage nanoparticles and graphite/FeCo core-shell nanocrystals in mouse atherosclerotic lesions.