Hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance: Less Cells More Science

Oncogenic transformation has been shown to have a dramatic impact on the metabolic state of the cell. Recent reports have demonstrated that specific alterations in oncogenes and signaling pathways results in increases in pathway flux as well as diversion of substrates. Interrogation though of these pathways in relevant systems has been hindered though by lack of versatile technologies capable of monitoring metabolism. Hyperpolarized magnetic resonance (HP MR) addresses a fundamental limitation of MRI for interrogating metabolic substrates, sensitivity. Using this approach, one can take endogenous metabolic substrates and generate a hyperpolarized state prior to infusion into a living system, creating a system with dramatically increased signal. These probes can then be followed using spectroscopic imaging techniques non-invasively and inform on the metabolic state of the cell as well as the dynamics of metabolism in real-time. In the setting of cancer metabolism, many biochemical probes have been developed which inform on multiple pathways. In this talk, I will focus on our efforts to develop novel small-scale engineered systems to explore cancer metabolism, utilize new probes to study metabolism in comparison to standard metabolomics methods and also our experience translating HP MRI to patients.