In vivo molecular imaging applied to preclinical models of neurodegenerative disorders and brain cancer

Our next Special Edition Virtual Pub, “Multiscale Imaging in the Neurosciences,” organized in collaboration with EBRAINS, will take place on Friday, October 27. At this event, we will explore the potential areas of collaboration between EBRAINS and Euro-BioImaging and highlight the expertise of selected Euro-BioImaging Nodes in the Neuroscience domain.

When: October 27, 2023, from 13:00-15:00 CEST

Where: Online

At this event, Rosa Marie Moresco explains the neuroscience research activities of her group Multimodal Molecular Imaging Italian node. Join us on Friday, October 27, to hear this talk and others like it.

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Abstract

In vivo molecular imaging applied to preclinical models of neurodegenerative disorders and brain cancer

Rosa Maria Moresco, Multimodal Molecular Imaging Italian Node

The group of the Institute of Molecular Bioimaging and Physiology of the Italian National Research Council (IBFM-CNR) is part of the Euro-BioImaging Multimodal Molecular Imaging Italian node. Laboratories and facilities, include all equipment required for in vivo preclinical molecular imaging (PET/SPECT/CT and Optical Imaging) and radiochemistry. The group operates in Milan and Monza also thanks to formal agreements with the San Raffaele Hospital and the University of Milan-Bicocca. Part of research and service activities are focused on neuroscience and include:

a) animal model characterization and evaluation of novel therapeutic strategies using in vivo imaging procedures,

b) radiopharmaceuticals or optical probes development and

c) imaging processing and analysis.

In the last few years the group applied in vivo molecular imaging to longitudinal study of neurodegeneration, neuroinflammation and regional brain functions in different rodent models of diseases including Parkinson, Huntington, multiple sclerosis, acute stress or obesity. The studies are performed using radiopharmaceuticals for the in vivo measurement of dopaminergic nerve endings, dopamine D2 receptors, adenosine A2 receptors, glucose metabolism or microglia/macrophage activation including radiopharmaceuticals developed by the group. Part of the activities are dedicated to the study of novel imaging strategies or therapy to control neuroiflammation in neurodegenerative disorders and cell proliferation in brain tumor and in particular for high-grade glioma. Orthotopic syngeneic and xenograft mice models of different glioma molecular type have been set up and evaluated with novel or well-established radiopharmaceuticals to monitor tumor biochemistry at rest or after radio-chemotherapy. In glioma models, the pharmacokinetics properties and tumor selectivity of radiolabels drug-nanocarriers are also under evaluation. The association of MRI to PET based molecular images, has been improved developing a homemade brain atlas and applying voxel wise statistical analysis to brain images. Regional functional modifications present during disease progression have been evaluated exploiting a metabolic connectomic approaches to PET FDG data. Finally, to better understand complexity of radiopharmaceuticals distribution, texture and radiomic analysis is under development and application to different neurodegenerative models.