Spatial Dependence of Metabolite Concentrations in Wild Type and ApcMin/+ Mouse GI Tissues: An ex-Vivo HR-MAS 1H NMR Spectroscopic Study

Basetti Madhu¹, Uribe-Lewis Santiago¹, Murrell Adele¹, Griffiths R. John¹, Griffiths R. John¹

The Apc^Min/+ mouse is a genetically engineered cancer mouse model that spontaneously develops tumours in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Here we have investigated the spatial dependence of the metabolic characteristics of the GI tissues of wild type and ApcMin/+ mice using HRMAS ¹H NMR spectroscopy. We found metabolite concentration gradients of alanine, choline, Glx (glutamine and glutamate) and total-creatine (t-Cr) as we moved from stomach to colon along the small intestine in both wild type and Apc^Min/+ mice. These metabolite variations were maintained in normal tissues adjacent to the tumours in Apc^Min/+mice but were disrupted in tumour tissues themselves. In addition all the estimated metabolites were found to be higher in tumour tissue, significantly greater with increased distance from the stomach, which correlates with increased tumour frequency in the distal part of the small bowel GI tract of Apc^Min/+.