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Abstract #1880

Magnetic Resonance Molecular Imaging of Neural Sprouts in Spine Explant Cultures

Ingrid E. Chesnick1, Carol B. Fowler1, Yeon Ho Kim2, Helen E. DArceuil3, Jeffrey T. Mason1, Kimberlee Potter1

1Department of Biophysics, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology Annex, Rockville, MD, United States; 2Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology Annex, Rockville, MD, United States; 3MRVision Co., Redwood City, CA, United States


Organotypic slice cultures of spinal cord allow for the study of axonal growth and regeneration, synapse formation, and myelination. Consequently, to better understand the dynamics of spinal cord repair in vivo, this model system was employed as a novel test platform to examine the specificity of actin-targeted Gd-liposomes to actin-rich neural sprouts. Actin-targeted Gd-liposomes were tested on a monolayer of cells and all labeling experiments were confirmed by MRM and fluorescence microscopy. Similar labeling protocols applied to spine explants revealed MR signal enhancement around the neural tube and neural sprouts at the edge of the explants.