Roja Rohani1, Rene Figueredo2, Jim
Koropatnick2, Paula Foster3, R. Terry Thompson1,
Frank S. Prato1, Donna Elizabeth Goldhawk1
1Imaging, Lawson Health
Research Institute, London, ON, Canada; 2London Regional Cancer
Program, London, ON, Canada; 3Imaging, Robarts Research Institute,
London, ON, Canada
We followed the appearance of endogenous contrast in iron-supplemented, tumor cells injected into immune-compromised mice. Repetitive MRI on anesthetized animals, from several days post-injection up to 5 weeks, compared MagA-expressing cell growth to that of modified ferritin subunits, lacking iron response elements, and parental controls. Nascent tumors were detected days after injection on a 3T scanner using a custom RF coil and gradient insert. This study documents the activity of an undifferentiated cancer cell line using noninvasive, live animal imaging to improve our understanding of cancer stem cell biology, cell transplantation, and the potential of reporter gene expression for MRI.