Non-invasive imaging and cellular tracking of pulmonary emboli by near-infrared fluorescence and positron-emission tomography.

ABSTRACT: Functional imaging of proteolytic activity is an emerging strategy to quantify disease and response to therapy at the molecular level. We present a new peptide-based imaging probe technology that advances these goals by exploiting enzymatic activity to deposit probes labelled with near-infrared (NIR) fluorophores or radioisotopes in cell membranes of disease-associated proteolysis. This strategy allows for non-invasive detection of protease activity in vivo and ex vivo by tracking deposited probes in tissues. We demonstrate non-invasive detection of thrombin generation in a murine model of pulmonary embolism using our protease-activated peptide probes in microscopic clots within the lungs with NIR fluorescence optical imaging and positron-emission tomography. Thrombin activity is imaged de

SUBMITTER: Page MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4593073 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature