Orthotopic bladder cancer xenografts are essential for testing novel therapies and molecular manipulations of cell lines in vivo. Current xenografts rely on tumor cell inoculation by intravesical instillation or direct injection into the bladder wall. …

Spectral imaging is an advanced photo-acoustic (PA) mode that can discern optical absorption of contrast agent(s) in the tissue micro-environment. This advancement is made possible by precise control of optical wavelength using a tunable pulsed laser, …

Reporter genes are useful scientific tools for analyzing promoter activity, transfection efficiency, and cell migration. The current study has validated the use of tyrosinase (involved in melanin production) as a dual reporter gene for magnetic resonance …

Development of reporter genes for multimodality molecular imaging is highly important. In contrast to the conventional strategies which have focused on fusing several reporter genes together to serve as multimodal reporters, human tyrosinase (TYR)--the …

PURPOSE: Decreased expression of elastin results in smaller, less compliant arteries and high blood pressure. In mice, these differences become more significant with postnatal development. It is known that arterial size and compliance directly affect …

Murine models have been utilized with increasing frequency mainly due to availability of genetically engineered models. With advancement in high spatial and temporal resolution, echocardiography is used extensively for the evaluation of cardiovascular …

The primary graft-related complication during the first clinical trial evaluating the use of tissue-engineered vascular grafts (TEVGs) was stenosis. We investigated the role of macrophages in the formation of TEVG stenosis in a murine model. We analyzed …

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is the most common form of muscular dystrophy. DMD pa- tients lack dystrophin protein and develop skeletal muscle pathology and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Approximately 20% succumb to cardiac involvement.Wehypothesized …

Neural crest stem cells (NCSCs) give rise to the neurons and glia of the peripheral nervous system (PNS). NCSC-like cells can be isolated from multiple peripheral organs and maintained in neurosphere culture. Combining in vitro culture and …

Somatic stem cells are reservoirs to replace lost cells or damaged tissue. Cells with neural stem cell (NSC) characteristics can be isolated from the postnatal mammalian brain into adulthood and expanded as neurospheres. We addressed the ability of these …