Min-Chi Ku1, Andreas Pohlmann1, Sonia Waiczies1, Joao dos Santos Periquito1, Till Huelnhagen1, and Thoralf Niendorf1
Glioma progression involves complex interactions of tumor vasculature
and infiltrating anti-tumor immune cells. As we previously found that mouse
lacking ERK1 formed significantly smaller tumors, it was still not clear
whether ERK1 deletion in the tumor vascular architecture might influence the
outcome of glioma growth. To further study this, we examined the relative
cerebral blood volume (rCBV) in the glioma tumor. R2* changes induced by a blood-pool
contrast agent, ferumoxytol, were quantified. Here, we established a model
system to noninvasively monitor brain tumor angiogenesis, and found evidence
supporting the role of ERK1 in regulating glioma growth via angiogenesis.
