New Paper: Early Detection of Cell Death Using MRI

We’re excited to share our latest research article, “Early detection of cell death using transmembrane water exchange magnetic resonance imaging,” now published in Advanced Science.

🔗 Read the article here:
https://lnkd.in/eW53Cq5A

🔬 Why this matters:
Cell death plays a central role in both cancer progression and treatment response. One of the earliest hallmarks of dying cells is increased membrane permeability. In this study, we demonstrate for the first time in vivo that the transmembrane water exchange rate, measured by advanced MRI techniques (FEXSY/FEXI) and quantified as the apparent exchange rate (AXR), can serve as an early and sensitive biomarker of cell death.

📈 Key findings:
– AXR detects cell death earlier than conventional diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI) in vivo
– Sensitivity is comparable to gold-standard laboratory assays such as flow cytometry
– Early treatment responses detected in colorectal cancer and lymphoma models, even when standard DWI showed no change
– First demonstration across the full translational spectrum: cells, animal models, and human patients
– In patients with uterine fibroids, AXR revealed early post-treatment changes, highlighting clinical potential

🧲 Why FEXI is special:
FEXI is label-free. It uses water molecules to probe the integrity of the cell membrane and relies on standard MRI pulse sequence building blocks – facilitating straightforward integration into clinical MRI protocols.

🌍 Translational impact:
This interdisciplinary work spans in vitro validation, preclinical mouse studies, and first-in-human feasibility, underscoring AXR as a promising imaging biomarker for early cell death and therapy response.

Hashtag#AdvancedScience Hashtag#MRI Hashtag#MedicalImaging Hashtag#CancerResearch Hashtag#CellDeath Hashtag#ImagingBiomarkers Hashtag#TranslationalResearch Hashtag#FEXI Hashtag#AXR

We thank Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) – German Research Foundation for funding through the Emmy Noether Programme.

Great teamwork by all researchers from Technische Universität München, Cancer Research UK (CRUK), University of Cambridge, DKFZ Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum: Athanasia Kaika, Luca Nagel, Bangwen Xie, Frits van Heijster, Bernd Erber, Katja Steiger, Univ.-Prof. Dr.med. Philipp Jost, Natalia Ivleva, Philipp Marius Paprottka, Priv.-Doz. Dr. med. Jonathan Nadjiri, EBIR-ES/IO, MHBA, Kevin Brindle, Wolfgang Weber