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- Title
Tyrosine polyethylene glycol (PEG)-micelle magnetic resonance contrast agent for the detection of lipid rich areas in atherosclerotic plaque.
- Authors
Beilvert, Anne; Cormode, David P.; Chaubet, Frédéric; Briley-Saebo, Karen C.; Mani, Venkatesh; Mulder, Willem J.M.; Vucic, Esad; Toussaint, Jean-François; Letourneur, Didier; Fayad, Zahi A.
- Abstract
Vulnerable or high-risk atherosclerotic plaques often exhibit large lipid cores and thin fibrous caps that can lead to deadly vascular events when they rupture. In this study, polyethylene glycol (PEG)-micelles that incorporate a gadolinium diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-DTPA) amphiphile were used as an MR contrast agent. In an approach inspired by lipoproteins, the micelles were functionalized with tyrosine residues, an aromatic, lipophilic amino acid, to reach the lipid-rich areas of atherosclerotic plaque in a highly efficient manner. These micelles were applied to apolipoprotein E−/− (ApoE−/−) mice as a model of atherosclerosis. The abdominal aortas of the animals were imaged using T1-weighted ( T1W) high-resolution MRI at 9.4T before and up to 48 h after the administration of the micelles. PEG-micelles modified with 15% tyrosine residues yielded a significant enhancement of the abdominal aortic wall at 6 and 24 h postinjection (pi) as compared to unmodified micelles. Fluorescence microscopy on histological sections of the abdominal aorta showed a correlation between lipid-rich areas and the distribution of the functionalized contrast agent in plaque. Using a simple approach, we demonstrated that lipid-rich areas in atherosclerotic plaque of ApoE−/− mice can be detected by MRI using Gd-DTPA micelles. Magn Reson Med, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
- Publication
Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2009, Vol 62, Issue 5, p1195
- ISSN
0740-3194
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1002/mrm.22103