Search

Brachialis periosteal avulsion injury is an uncommon injury occurring in young children. The injury may be misinterpreted or overlooked because of misleading or subtle radiological findings. A case of 7-year-old child with post-traumatic elbow pain and subtle findings on elbow radiography is presented. The injury was initially misinterpreted as an avulsion fracture of the medial epicondyle. Following radiological review, a diagnosis of brachialis periosteal avulsion injury was made. The radiographic and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of this injury are presented to stress the value of comparing the radiographic findings with previous imaging and to increase awareness of this uncommon injury.

Cellular apoptosis is a prominent feature of many diseases, and this programmed cell death typically occurs before clinical manifestations of disease are evident. A means to detect apoptosis in its earliest, reversible stages would afford a pre-clinical 'window' during which preventive or therapeutic measures could be taken to protect the heart from permanent damage. We present herein a simple and robust method to conjugate human Annexin V (ANX), which avidly binds to cells in the earliest, reversible stages of apoptosis, to superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) nanoparticles, which serve as an MRI-detectable contrast agent. The conjugation method begins with an oxidation of the SPIO nanoparticles, which oxidizes carboxyl groups on the polysaccharide shell of SPIO. Purified ANX protein is then added in the setting of a sodium borate solution to facilitate covalent interaction of ANX with SPIO in a reducing buffer. A final reduction step with sodium borohydride is performed to complete the reduction, and then the reaction is quenched. Unconjugated ANX is removed from the mix by microcentrifuge filtration. The size and purity of the ANX-SPIO product is verified by dynamic light scattering (DLS). This method does not require addition to, or modification of, the polysaccharide SPIO shell, as opposed to cross-linked iron oxide particle conjugation methods or biotin-labeled nanoparticles. As a result, this method represents a simple, robust approach that may be extended to conjugation of other proteins of interest.

Cellular apoptosis is a prominent feature of many diseases, and this programmed cell death typically occurs before clinical manifestations of disease are evident. A means to detect apoptosis in its earliest, reversible stages would afford a pre-clinical 'window' during which preventive or therapeutic measures could be taken to protect the heart from permanent damage. We present herein a simple and robust method to conjugate human Annexin V (ANX), which avidly binds to cells in the earliest, reversible stages of apoptosis, to superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) nanoparticles, which serve as an MRI-detectable contrast agent. The conjugation method begins with an oxidation of the SPIO nanoparticles, which oxidizes carboxyl groups on the polysaccharide shell of SPIO. Purified ANX protein is then added in the setting of a sodium borate solution to facilitate covalent interaction of ANX with SPIO in a reducing buffer. A final reduction step with sodium borohydride is performed to complete the reduction, and then the reaction is quenched. Unconjugated ANX is removed from the mix by microcentrifuge filtration. The size and purity of the ANX-SPIO product is verified by dynamic light scattering (DLS). This method does not require addition to, or modification of, the polysaccharide SPIO shell, as opposed to cross-linked iron oxide particle conjugation methods or biotin-labeled nanoparticles. As a result, this method represents a simple, robust approach that may be extended to conjugation of other proteins of interest.

An abstract of the conference paper "Manganese-enhanced MRI detects live human amnion-derived mesenchymal stem cells in vivo after transplantation and restoration of myocardial function in a pig ischemia-reperfusion injury model," by Rajesh Dash, and colleagues is presented.

An abstract of the conference paper "In vivo detection and treatment of ischemia-induced cardiac apoptosis using an MRI-detectable molecular probe and an alpha-adrenergic receptor agonist," by Justin Lam, and colleagues is presented.