Grants and Contracts Details
Description
The Vandsburger lab is a biomedical research lab at the University of Kentucky with a research
focus on developing novel molecular MRI technology for the diagnosis and study of heart
failure in the setting of diabetes and kidney disease. The majority of diabetics suffer mortality
from heart failure, yet existing diagnostic technologies either require invasive, painful, and
inaccurate biopsies, or use imaging approaches such as ultrasound to examine anatomical and
global functional changes and are limited to detecting heart failure at late and likely irreversible
disease stages. In contrast, we leverage a unique combination of knowledge in MRI physics,
biomedical engineering, and the molecular biology of heart disease to create new and
innovative methods that can identify the beginnings of heart failure in a totally non]invasive
and painless manner. The particular project for which we are seeking support focuses on in vivo
imaging of one of the earliest markers of diabetic heart failure utilizing a novel molecular MRI
technique that we developed in the last 2 years. In this project we seek to image the fatty acid
transporter CD36 using a novel targeted MRI contrast agent. In healthy heart cells, CD36 is
distributed evenly between the cell membrane and the cytoplasm. In the pre]diabetic heart,
CD36 distribution changes to be 100% at the cell membrane, marking an early molecular event
that if identified could enable earlier treatment, prevent heart failure and reduce mortality. Our
technique represents the only non]invasive method capable of identifying such molecular
changes. We are seeking support to conduct the first study in a mouse model of diabetic
cardiomyopathy.
Status | Finished |
---|---|
Effective start/end date | 11/17/14 → 10/1/15 |
Fingerprint
Explore the research topics touched on by this project. These labels are generated based on the underlying awards/grants. Together they form a unique fingerprint.