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.
Keywords