FURI | Spring 2019

Using 1H MRI Reporter S-Gal® to Study Senescent and Quiescent Cells

Senescent and quiescent cells are cells that stop proliferating due to a variety of factors, including stress-induced senescence. Recognizing these cells through MR imaging can help detect dormant  cancer tumors. It has been shown that an enzyme called β-galactosidase (β-gal) is upregulated in senescent and quiescent cells.The combination of S-gal® and ferric ammonium citrate (FAC) in the presence of β-gal leads to the formation of a black, paramagnetic precipitate. This study uses NIH-3T3 cells (mouse fibroblast) and NCI-H1975 (human lung epithelial) cells cultured in vitro with the goal of detecting the black, paramagnetic precipitate through MR imaging and western blotting techniques.