Abstract #0565

MRI Detection of Bacterial Infection Through Endogenous CEST Contrast

Guanshu Liu¹,², Yuan Qiao³, Chetan Bettegowda³, Verena Staedtke³, Kannie W.Y. Chan⁴,⁵, Renyuan Bai³, Gregory Riggins³, Kenneth W. Kinzler³, Jeff W.M. Bulte⁴,⁵, Michael T. McMahon¹,², Assaf A. Gilad⁴,⁵, Bert Vogelstein³, Shibin Zhou³, Peter C.M. van Zijl¹,²

¹F.M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, United States; ²Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States; ³Ludwig Center, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States; ⁴Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States; ⁵Cellular Imaging Section, Institute for Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States

Currently there are no MRI methods to image bacterial infection. Here, we show that Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (CEST) provides a non-invasive MR imaging method to detect bacteria in live mice. Using this approach, we were able to detect two bacteria strains, C. novyi-NT and E. Coli, in vitro. As a first demonstration, we applied this approach to bacteriolytic therapy, which has recently emerged as a promising approach for treating cancer and is currently being translated to the clinic. The results show that CEST-MRI can monitor the infection of anaerobic bacteria in the hypoxic cores of solid tumors.