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Pulsed and oscillating gradient MRI for assessment of cell size and extracellular space (POMACE) in mouse gliomas
Author(s) -
Reynaud Olivier,
Winters Kerryanne Veronica,
Hoang Dung Minh,
Wadghiri Youssef Zaim,
Novikov Dmitry S.,
Kim Sungheon Gene
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
nmr in biomedicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.278
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1099-1492
pISSN - 0952-3480
DOI - 10.1002/nbm.3577
Subject(s) - ex vivo , in vivo , extracellular , thermal diffusivity , biophysics , chemistry , intracellular , glioma , materials science , biomedical engineering , nuclear magnetic resonance , biology , physics , cancer research , medicine , biochemistry , thermodynamics , microbiology and biotechnology
Solid tumor microstructure is related to the aggressiveness of the tumor, interstitial pressure and drug delivery pathways, which are closely associated with treatment response, metastatic spread and prognosis. In this study, we introduce a novel diffusion MRI data analysis framework, pulsed and oscillating gradient MRI for assessment of cell size and extracellular space (POMACE), and demonstrate its feasibility in a mouse tumor model. In vivo and ex vivo POMACE experiments were performed on mice bearing the GL261 murine glioma model ( n = 8). Since the complete diffusion time dependence is in general non‐analytical, the tumor microstructure was modeled in an appropriate time/frequency regime by impermeable spheres (radius R cell , intracellular diffusivity D ics ) surrounded by extracellular space (ECS) (approximated by constant apparent diffusivity D ecs in volume fraction ECS). POMACE parametric maps (ECS, R cell , D ics , D ecs ) were compared with conventional diffusion‐weighted imaging metrics, electron microscopy (EM), alternative ECS determination based on effective medium theory (EMT), and optical microscopy performed on the same samples. It was shown that D ecs can be approximated by its long time tortuosity limit in the range [1/(88 Hz)–31 ms]. ECS estimations (44 ± 7% in vivo and 54 ± 11% ex vivo ) were in agreement with EMT‐based ECS and literature on brain gliomas. Ex vivo , ECS maps correlated well with optical microscopy. Cell sizes ( R cell = 4.8 ± 1.3 in vivo and 4.3 ± 1.4 µm ex vivo ) were consistent with EM measurements (4.7 ± 1.8 µm). In conclusion, R cell and ECS can be quantified and mapped in vivo and ex vivo in brain tumors using the proposed POMACE method. Our experimental results support the view that POMACE provides a way to interpret the frequency or time dependence of the diffusion coefficient in tumors in terms of objective biophysical parameters of neuronal tissue, which can be used for non‐invasive monitoring of preclinical cancer studies and treatment efficacy. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.