title: A preclinical murine model for the early detection of radiation-induced brain injury using magnetic resonance imaging and behavioral tests for learning and memory: with applications for the evaluation of possible stem cell imaging agents and therapies.
abstract: Stem cell therapies are being developed for radiotherapy-induced brain injuries (RIBI). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) offers advantages for imaging transplanted stem cells. However, most MRI cell-tracking techniques employ superparamagnetic iron oxide particles (SPIOs), which are difficult to distinguish from hemorrhage. In current preclinical RIBI models, hemorrhage occurs concurrently with other injury markers. This makes the evaluation of the recruitment of transplanted SPIO-labeled stem cells to injury sites difficult. Here, we developed a RIBI model, with early injury markers reflective of hippocampal dysfunction, which can be detected noninvasively with MRI and behavioral tests. Lesions were generated by sub-hemispheric irradiation of mouse hippocampi with single X-ray beams of 80 Gy. Lesion formation was monitored with anatomical and contrast-enhanced MRI and changes in memory and learning were assessed with fear-conditioning tests. Early injury markers were detected 2 weeks after irradiation. These included an increase in the permeability of the blood-brain barrier, demonstrated by a 92 ± 20 % contrast enhancement of the irradiated versus the non-irradiated brain hemispheres, within 15 min of the administration of an MRI contrast agent. A change in short-term memory was also detected, as demonstrated by a 40.88 ± 5.03 % decrease in the freezing time measured during the short-term memory context test at this time point, compared to that before irradiation. SPIO-labeled stem cells transplanted contralateral to the lesion migrated toward the lesion at this time point. No hemorrhage was detected up to 10 weeks after irradiation. This model can be used to evaluate SPIO-based stem cell-tracking agents, short-term.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cancer Imaging Research, The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 720 Rutland Avenue, Traylor Building 217, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Ethel J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Ngen
authors.affiliation: Division of Cancer Imaging Research, The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 720 Rutland Avenue, Traylor Building 217, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Lee
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Nishant
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gandhi
authors.affiliation: Division of Cancer Imaging Research, The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 720 Rutland Avenue, Traylor Building 217, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Armour
authors.affiliation: Division of Cancer Imaging Research, The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 720 Rutland Avenue, Traylor Building 217, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Wenlian
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Kathleen L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Gabrielson
authors.affiliation: Division of Cancer Imaging Research, The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 720 Rutland Avenue, Traylor Building 217, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA. dartemo2@jhmi.edu.
authors.forename: Dmitri
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Artemov
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000067290:Behavior Rating Scale; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries / Q000528:radiation effects; D020300:Intracranial Hemorrhages / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D007858:Learning; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D011833:Radiation Injuries, Experimental / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation; D013234:Stem Cells; D014965:X-Rays
keywords: Magnetic resonance imaging; Radiation-induced brain injury; Radiation-induced brain injury markers; Stem cell therapies; Stem cell tracking