Neuroimaging – Multimedia

Alain Favre-Reguillon, University of Lyon, speaking at Flow Chemistry India 2015

Imaging has been at the heart of Medicine for many decades. However, its influence is changing as the need increases not only for diagnosis of disease, but also for quantification of disease extent, identification of suitable candidates for treatment and for testing of both treatment response or assessment of potential side effects for new treatments.

We report the preparation of a new functionalized trimetallic nitride endohedral metallofullerene, with a cage surface consisting of positively charged amino groups, which is expected to bind more efficiently to negatively charged cell phospholipid bi-layer cellular surfaces and will more readily undergo endocytosis. We now report that this Gd-nanoplatform when subsequently conjugated with an IL-13 peptide, (IL-13-Gd3N@C80(OH)x(NH2)y) exhibits enhanced targeting of U-251 GBM cell lines.

Accurate identification of functional vasculature is of critical importance in evaluating construct integration. Digital volumetric imaging (DVI) is an automated serial sectioning and microscopic imaging technique that can bridge the resolution gap between micro-computed tomography and conventional histology. We use DVI to study in vivo vascularization of tissue engineering constructs in a variety of settings.

We screen natural products for antimicrobial, antiviral and anticancer activity, immunomodulatory effects, as inhibitors of cell adhesion and antioxidants. High resolution MRI-tomography with 7T magnet (PharmaScan 70/16US, Bruker) allows us to search in situ for compounds with anticancer, anti stroke and anti ischemia activity, inhibitors of angiogenesis and hepatoprotective substances.