In vivo molecular imaging of vascular stress

Abstract

Noninvasive in vivo imaging is an emerging specialty in experimental radiology aiming at developing hardware and appropriate contrast agents to visualize the molecular basis and pathophysiological processes of many pathological conditions, including atherosclerosis. The list of potentially useful tracers and targets for in vivo molecular imaging in the cascade of early atherosclerotic events has been narrowed down to some very promising endothelial factors, i.e., cell adhesion molecules, macrophages, apoptosis, lipoproteins, heat shock proteins, and others. In this review, we will update on the progress of recent developments in the field of noninvasive molecular imaging in experimental atherosclerosis.

Fig. 1

Schematic illustration of atherogenesis in the autoimmune hypothesis of atherosclerosis. Promising imaging targets throughout the process can be found for early and later stages in atherogenesis. Importantly, as results from our group showed, effector T cells are the first mononuclear cells to appear in the intima and can then be found through both early and late periods in atherosclerosis. The figure is adapted and modified from Choudhury et al. (2004)

Fig. 2

Fatty streak in a surgically removed specimen from the aorta of a 50-year-old male patient. Immunohistochemical demonstration of HSP60 (black) by endothelial cells (arrowhead) and cells infiltrating the intima, including foam cells (arrow), and HLA-DR (red) by macrophages transformed into foam cells. Original magnification ×400