title: MRI reveals therapeutical efficacy of stem cells: An experimental study on the SOD1(G93A) animal model.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The first part of the experiment identifies and validates MRI biomarkers distinctive of the disease progression in the transgenic superoxide dismutase gene (SOD1(G93A)) animal model. The second part assesses the efficacy of a mesenchymal stem cell-based therapy through the MRI biomarkers previously defined.
  
  
  METHODS
  The first part identifies MRI differences between SOD1(G93A) and healthy mice. The second part of the experiment follows the disease evolution of stem cell-treated and non-stem-cell treated SOD1(G93A) mice. The analysis focused on voxel-based morphometry and T2 mapping on the brain tissues, and T2-weighted imaging and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) on the hind limbs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Comparing diseased mice to healthy control revealed gray matter alterations in the brainstem area, accompanied by increased T2 relaxation time. Differences in muscle volume, muscle signal intensity, fractional anisotropy, axial diffusivity, and radial diffusivity were measured in the hind limbs. In the comparison between stem cell-treated mice and nontreated ones, differences in muscle volume, muscle signal intensity, and DTI-derived maps were found.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  MRI-derived biomarkers can be used to identify differences between stem cell-treated and nontreated SOD1(G93A) mice. Magn Reson Med 79:459-469, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bontempi
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Busato
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bonafede
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schiaffino
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Scambi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sbarbati
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Raffaella
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mariotti
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Pasquina
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Marzola
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016880:Anisotropy; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000378:metabolism; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D010641:Phenotype; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation; D013234:Stem Cells; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000235:genetics; D000072105:Superoxide Dismutase-1 / Q000235:genetics*; D019076:Transgenes
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C000606290:SOD1 protein, human; C000606291:Sod1 protein, mouse; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase; D000072105:Superoxide Dismutase-1
keywords: MRI; SOD1(G93A); amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; mesenchymal stem cells; voxel-based morphometry