[<sup>68</sup>Ga]-NODAGA-RGD Positron Emission Tomography (PET) for Assessment of Post Myocardial Infarction Angiogenesis as a Predictor for Left Ventricular Remodeling in Mice after Cardiac Stem Cell Therapy
Cajetan Immanuel Lang,
Piet Döring,
Ralf Gäbel,
Praveen Vasudevan,
Heiko Lemcke,
Paula Müller,
Jan Stenzel,
Tobias Lindner,
Markus Joksch,
Jens Kurth,
Carina Bergner,
Hans-Jürgen Wester,
Hüseyin Ince,
Gustav Steinhoff,
Brigitte Vollmar,
Robert David,
Bernd Joachim Krause
Affiliations
Cajetan Immanuel Lang
Department of Cardiology, Rostock University Medical Center, 18057 Rostock, Germany
Piet Döring
Department of Cardiac Surgery, Rostock University Medical Center, 18057 Rostock, Germany
Ralf Gäbel
Department of Cardiac Surgery, Rostock University Medical Center, 18057 Rostock, Germany
Praveen Vasudevan
Department of Cardiac Surgery, Rostock University Medical Center, 18057 Rostock, Germany
Heiko Lemcke
Department of Cardiac Surgery, Rostock University Medical Center, 18057 Rostock, Germany
Paula Müller
Department of Cardiac Surgery, Rostock University Medical Center, 18057 Rostock, Germany
Jan Stenzel
Core Facility Multimodal Small Animal Imaging, University Medical Center, 18057 Rostock, Germany
Tobias Lindner
Core Facility Multimodal Small Animal Imaging, University Medical Center, 18057 Rostock, Germany
Markus Joksch
Core Facility Multimodal Small Animal Imaging, University Medical Center, 18057 Rostock, Germany
Jens Kurth
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Rostock University Medical Center, 18057 Rostock, Germany
Carina Bergner
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Rostock University Medical Center, 18057 Rostock, Germany
Hans-Jürgen Wester
Pharmaceutical Radiochemistry, Technische Universität München, 85748 Garching, Germany
Hüseyin Ince
Department of Cardiology, Rostock University Medical Center, 18057 Rostock, Germany
Gustav Steinhoff
Department of Cardiac Surgery, Rostock University Medical Center, 18057 Rostock, Germany
Brigitte Vollmar
Rudolf-Zenker-Institute for Experimental Surgery, Rostock University Medical Center, 18057 Rostock, Germany
Robert David
Department of Cardiac Surgery, Rostock University Medical Center, 18057 Rostock, Germany
Bernd Joachim Krause
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Rostock University Medical Center, 18057 Rostock, Germany
Angiogenesis plays a central role in the healing process following acute myocardial infarction. The PET tracer [68Ga]-NODAGA-RGD, which is a ligand for the αvβ3 integrin, has been investigated for imaging angiogenesis in the process of healing myocardium in both animal and clinical studies. It’s value as a prognostic marker of functional outcome remains unclear. Therefore, the aim of this work was to establish [68Ga]-NODAGA-RGD for imaging angiogenesis in the murine infarct model and evaluate the tracer as a predictor for cardiac remodeling in the context of cardiac stem cell therapy. [68Ga]-NODAGA-RGD PET performed seven days after left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) occlusion in 129S6 mice showed intense tracer accumulation within the infarct region. The specificity was shown in a sub-group of animals by application of the competitive inhibitor cilengitide prior to tracer injection in a subgroup of animals. Myocardial infarction (MI) significantly reduced cardiac function and resulted in pronounced left ventricular remodeling after three weeks, as measured by cardiac MRI in a separate group. Cardiac induced cells (CiC) that were derived from mESC injected intramyocardially in the therapy group significantly improved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Surprisingly, CiC transplantation resulted in significantly lower tracer accumulation seven days after MI induction. Accordingly, we successfully established the PET tracer [68Ga]-NODAGA-RGD for the assessment of αvβ3 integrin expression in the healing process after MI in the mouse model. Yet, our results indicate that the mere extent of angiogenesis following MI does not serve as a sufficient prognostic marker for functional outcome.
