Amy Barulic1, Kiarash Emami2, Yi
Xin1, Puttisarn Mongkolwisetwara1, Harilla Profka1,
Nicholas N. Kuzma1, Jeanine M. D'Armiento3, Takayuki
Shiomi4, Stephen J. Kadlecek1, Yinan Xu1,
Hooman Hamedani1, Benjamin Michael Pullinger1, Rajat
Ghosh1, Jennia Rajaei1, Stephen Pickup1,
Masaru Ishii5, Rahim R. Rizi1
1Radiology, University of
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States; 2Radiology,
University of Pennsylvania, PA, PA, United States; 3Departments of
Medicine & Surgery, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States; 4Department
of Molecular Medicine, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States; 5OtolaryngologyHead
& Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States
Hyperpolarized 3He gas MRI was used to assess the SFRP1 knockout mice lung microstructure. SFRP1 knockout mice demonstrated a significant increase in the overall 3He apparent diffusion coefficient value compared to their nave counterparts. Results suggest that this technique can serve as a sensitive and non-invasive in vivo imaging tool for longitudinal studies of development and repair response in pulmonary cells, as well as for the study of lung embryogenesis and monitoring the progression of therapeutic interventions for various lung pathologies.