Ex vivo tissue imaging of human glioblastoma using a small bore 7T MRI and correlation with digital pathology and proteomics profiling

Recent advancement in MRI established multi-parametric imaging for in vivo characterization of pathologic changes in brain cancer, which is expected to play a role in imaging biomarker development. Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) is a prime example, which has been deployed for assessment of therapeutic response via analysis of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) / mean diffusivity (MD) values. They have been speculated to reflect apoptosis/necrosis. As newer medical imaging emerges, it is essential to verify that apparent abnormal features in imaging correlate with histopathology. Furthermore, the feasibility of imaging correlation with molecular profile should be explored in order to enhance the potential of biomedical imaging as a reliable biomarker. We focus on glioblastoma, which is an aggressive brain cancer. Despite the increased number of studies involving DTI in glioblastoma; however, little has been explored to bridge the gap between the molecular biomarkers and DTI data. Due to spatial heterogeneity in, MRI signals, pathologic change and protein expression, precise correlation is required between DTI, pathology and proteomics data in a histoanatomically identical manner. The challenge is obtaining an identical plane from in vivo imaging data that exactly matches with histopathology section. Thus, we propose to incorporate ex vivo tissue imaging to bridge between in vivo imaging data and histopathology. With ex vivo scan of removed tissue, it is feasible to use high-field 7T MRI scanner, which can achieve microscopic resolution. Once histology section showing the identical plane, it is feasible to correlate protein expression by a unique technology, "multiplex tissue immunoblotting".