Novel anatomical and functional biomarkers of lung disease and therapy dynamics in preclinical rodent models

Lung diseases such as fibrosis, asthma, cystic fibrosis, infection and cancer are life-threatening conditions, which slowly deteriorate quality of life and for which our knowledge on etiology and/or effective treatment options still contains important gaps. To unravel disease processes and to test novel therapeutic approaches, investigators typically rely on end-stage procedures such as serum analysis, cyto-/chemokine profiles and selective tissue histology from animal models. These techniques are useful but provide only a snapshot of disease processes that are essentially dynamic in time and space. Technology allowing evaluation of live animals repeatedly is indispensable to gain better insight into the dynamics of lung disease progression and treatment. Computed tomography (CT) is a clinical standard and can have enormous benefits in a research context too. Yet, its implementation in laboratories lags behind. We aim to develop integrated novel approaches of imaging (µCT, MRI, optical) and lung functional testing to assess and quantify lung disease progression in live animals. This will result in novel anatomical and functional biomarkers from physiological lung function measurements and 4D longitudinal non-invasively acquired imaging data, resulting in reduced numbers of animals necessary. We will apply our integrated multidisciplinary assessment in rodent models of cystic fibrosis, emphysema, lung cancer and asthma (available with the promoters), including testing novel therapeutics, which ultimately will result in improved clinical translation.

Keywords:lung diseases, computed tomography, lung function

Disciplines:Laboratory medicine, Palliative care and end-of-life care, Regenerative medicine, Other basic sciences, Other health sciences, Nursing, Other paramedical sciences, Other translational sciences, Other medical and health sciences