Quantitative imaging of infl ammation toward diagnosis of systemic infl ammation and tumor growth

2^nd World Congress on Biomarkers & Clinical Research

12-14 September 2011 Baltimore, USA

Moonsoo M. Jin

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Mol Biomark Diagn

Abstract :

Dysregulated host infl ammatory response causes many diseases, including cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, and sepsis. Sensitive detection of the site of infl ammation will, therefore, produce a wide-ranging impact on disease diagnosis and treatment. We hypothesized that nanoprobes designed to mimic the molecular interactions occurring between infl amed leukocytes and endothelium may possess selectivity toward diverse host infl ammatory responses. To incorporate infl ammation-sensitive molecular interactions, superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles were conjugated with integrin lymphocyte function-associated antigen (LFA)-1 I domain, engineered to mimic activated leukocytes in physiology. Whole body optical and magnetic resonance imaging in vivo revealed that leukocyte-mimetic nanoparticles localized preferentially to the vasculature within and in the invasive front of the tumor, as well as to the site of acute infl ammation. Th is study presents the fi rst demonstration of in vivo detection of tumor-associated vasculature with systemically injected infl ammation-specifi c nanoparticles, presenting a possibility of tumor detection by infl amed tumor microenvironment.

Biography :

Moonsoo Jin received his doctoral degree at MIT, followed by his postdoctoral training in what can be broadly defi ned as protein engineering and design at Harvard Medical School. In 2006, he joined Cornell University as a faculty in the department of Biomedical Engineering. His lab uses multi-scale, interdisciplinary approaches to developing proteins for therapy and diagnosis applications. He has received numerous prestigious awards including Scientist Development Grant from the American Heart Association and NIH Transformative R01 Grant. He also started a biotech company, Nanomedik, Inc., which aims to translate nanotechnology to clinics