1Division
of MR Research, The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and
Radiological Science, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United
States; 2Cellular Imaging Section, Institute for Cell Engineering,
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States; 3Division
of MR Research, The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and
Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States;
4F.M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Kennedy
Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, United States
Tumor-associated glycosylation changes regulate tumor proliferation, metastasis, and angiogenesis. Underglycosylated mucin-1 (uMUC-1) antigen is overexpressed in many adenocarcinomas (e.g. colon, breast and ovarian cancers). Using CEST imaging, we were able to discriminate deglycosylated from untreated mucin proteins, with the deglycosylated samples showing >80% reduction in the OH peak. Using cell lines with different levels of MUC-1 glycosylation, a striking differential CEST contrast could be obtained between 0.5 and 4 ppm. These results suggest that CEST imaging may be used as a surrogate marker to non-invasively assess mucin glycosylation and tumor malignancy.