The Molecular and Anatomic Imaging Core will provide molecular and anatomic imaging services to support the clinical and basic science components of all 3 of the projects under a single administrative structure. In all of the projects there is a significant emphasis on the correlation of histologic and cellular findings with various anatomic imaging modalities. By combining these services, the Core can not only support translation in the sense of basic science to clinical application, but also enable translation between molecular and anatomic imaging techniques among the Projects, which can enhance both components of the CORT. In addition, the Core will develop new techniques to enhance the analysis of changes induced in bone and muscles by teriparatide in the various animals studies. The overall Goals of the Core are to continue to: A. provide high quality, efficient, and cost-effective tissue-based molecular imaging studies;B. provide high quality, consistent, efficient and cost-effective anatomic imaging studies in animals;and C. enhance and refine technology to bring new cutting-edge imaging techniques into basic research practice. The Specific Alms related to Goal C are to: 1. Develop Whole Slide Imaging technology using Olympic's VS100 whole slide imager to capture histologic and other digitally-acquired images for automated quantitative analysis of standard and novel parameters of tissue morphology;2. Develop quantitative methodology to evaluate signaling using immunohistochemistry (IHC) and in-situ hybridization (ISH) and the VS100 slide imager in tissue samples of cartilage and fracture callus;3. Continue to develop Tissue Microarrays (TMAs) of murine tissues to optimize IHC analysis of protein expression and quantify expression automatically using the whole slide imager;4. Optimize algorithms for hardware artifact suppression and calculating the Union Ratio from clinical Cone Beam CT (CB-CT) scanning to aid in the assessment of osseointegration of allografts in the large animal (canine) preclinical model. This translation between molecular and anatomic imaging will be facilitated by an Imaging Core Committee, which will oversee the day to day working of the two components of the Core and assist in the development of new technologies to support the projects.
The Molecular and Anatomic Imaging Core provides key imaging services, which are shared by all 3 of the Projects in the CORT, and develops new technologies that can be used by investigators in the Projects during the funding period. These include analysis of changes induced by teriparatide treatment in the anatomic and radiographic features of bones of animals in the Projects. Provision of these services in a single Core Laboratory significantly increases efficiency and reduces costs by avoiding duplication of assays and facilitates sharing of new technological advances.
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