Torjus Skajaa1,2, David P. Cormode1, Peter Jarzyna1, Alessandra Barazza3, Edward A. Fisher3, Ronald E. Gordon4, Zahi A. Fayad1, Willem J.M. Mulder1
1Translational and Molecular Imaging Institute, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA; 2Faculty of Health Sciences, Aarhus, Denmark; 3School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY, USA; 4Department of Pathology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
We here report a multimodal investigation of the action of high density lipoprotein (HDL) in atherosclerosis using a HDL mimicking iron oxide nanoparticle. These particles are detectable by MRI, optical techniques and transmission electron microscopy, allowing their visualization at the anatomical, cellular and sub-cellular level. The HDL nanoparticles were applied in vitro and on atherosclerotic and wild type mice in vivo and successfully enabled us to study lipoprotein function.