Marina Radoul1,
Batya Cohen2, Moriel Vandsburger2, Dorit Granot2,
Eyal Shimoni3, Alon Harmelin4, Raz Zarivach5,
Michal Neeman2
1Radiology,
UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States; 2Biological Regulation,
Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel; 3Chemical Research
Support, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel; 4Veterinary
Resources, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel; 5Life
Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel
Ferritin is one of the most extensively studied MRI reporter genes. However, compared to iron in magnetite, iron in ferritin demonstrates lower relaxivity and thus lowers sensitivity for detection by MRI. Here we report on a new recombinant fusion protein HA-Ferritin-M6A considerably enhanced r2 relaxivity and cell iron loading which represents a significant advance over existing Ferritin reporter gene strategies.
Keywords