Cell Host & Micro：开发出监视机体感染炎症应答反应的3D成像技术

近日，来自范德堡大学的研究者指出，一种揭示人体针对感染产生的免疫效应和识别涉及免疫反应蛋白质的3D成像技术可以为未来感染性疾病提供新的标志物和新型的药物开发思路。研究者结合了磁共振成像（MRI）和质谱成像技术来显现小鼠对于细菌感染所产生的炎症免疫反应。相关研究结果刊登在了国际杂志Cell Host & Microbe上。

研究者Skaar和其同事非常感兴趣在动物感染中的三维成像感染技术，通过这种技术，研究者可以是发现在特异的感染部位所产生的蛋白质，MRI技术就提供了组织损伤的解剖学影像技术。质谱成像技术可以直接测定组织中的蛋白质、脂质和其它代谢产物。

这项新型技术允许研究者观察到感染动物的单一图像，并且可以观察到免疫系统的蛋白如何做出反应以及感染的组织如何被定位。研究者希望研究这些蛋白质来开发出针对感染的新的标志物，这将会有效改善诊断学工具或者新的治疗干预靶点。

这项技术对于科学家们研究感染性疾病、癌症以及自体免疫疾病的炎症反应非常重要。尽管这种技术是非侵袭性的，其只适用于移除的病人组织。相关研究由国立卫生研究院提供支持。

编译自：New View of Body's Infection Response

doi:10.1016/j.chom.2012.04.018
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Monitoring the Inflammatory Response to Infection through the Integration of MALDI IMS and MRI

Ahmed S. Attia, Kaitlin A. Schroeder, Erin H. Seeley, Kevin J. Wilson, Neal D. Hammer, Daniel C. Colvin, M. Lisa Manier, Joshua J. Nicklay, Kristie L. Rose, John C. Gore, Richard M. Caprioli, Eric P. Skaar

Systemic bacterial infection is characterized by a robust whole-organism inflammatory response. Analysis of the immune response to infection involves technologies that typically focus on single organ systems and lack spatial information. Additionally, the analysis of individual inflammatory proteins requires antibodies specific to the protein of interest, limiting the panel of proteins that can be analyzed. Herein we describe the application of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization imaging mass spectrometry (MALDI IMS) to mice systemically infected with Staphylococcus aureus to identify inflammatory protein masses that respond to infection throughout an entire infected animal. Integrating the resolution afforded by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with the sensitivity of MALDI IMS provides three-dimensional spatially resolved information regarding the distribution of innate immune proteins during systemic infection, allowing comparisons to in vivo structural information and soft-tissue contrast via MRI. Thus, integrating MALDI IMS with MRI provides a systems-biology approach to study inflammation during infection.