Tissue Redox Activity as a Sensing Platform for Imaging of Cancer Based on Nitroxide Redox Cycle

Rumiana Bakalova¹, Zhivko Zhelev¹, ², Ichio Aoki¹, Daisuke Kokuryo¹, Veselina Gadjeva², Tsuneo Saga¹

Redox signalling is crucial for carcinogenesis and our study shows that tissue redox activity can be used as a sensing platform for imaging of cancer, using nitroxide-enhanced MRI. The experiments were conducted on cancer-bearing and healthy mice. The tissues (cancer and non-cancer) of cancer-bearing mice were characterized by a long-lived MRI signal (&[tau] _1/2>14min.),indicating a high oxidative activity. The tissues of healthy mice were characterized by a short-lived MRI signal (&[tau] _1/2<3min.), indicating a high reducing activity to the nitroxide. The proposed methodology is applicable on biopsy specimens and blood samples for evaluation of the effectiveness of anti-cancer therapy.