Journal Article Epublish
PubMed: 42828291 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2026.117572
Trimodal ultrasound imaging of brain-tumor interaction.
iScience 29(10):117572
Authors: Claire Rabut, Shirin Shivaei, Baptiste Heiles, George Daghlian, Mikhail G Shapiro
Affiliations
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
Abstract
Brain tumors cause debilitating neurological dysfunction by disrupting brain tissue and altering local and global neurovascular activity and blood flow. Studying tumor-brain interactions in animal models is challenging, as no single method captures tumor growth, neurovascular activity, and vascular remodeling over time. Here, we overcome this limitation with a multimodal ultrasound platform combining nonlinear imaging of acoustic reporter gene-expressing tumors, functional hemodynamic imaging of brain activity, and super-resolution vascular microscopy. Applying it to a U87 glioblastoma xenograft model, we followed individual animals across their disease lifetimes. Co-registration of all three readouts linked the displacement and weakening of the lateral geniculate nucleus to the molecularly defined tumor and the vascular remodeling around it. We also identified a tumor-intrinsic hemodynamic signal, spatially uniform and uncoupled from surrounding networks, that hemodynamic imaging alone could not distinguish from displaced tissue. This platform provides a foundation for mechanistic studies in more invasive glioma models.
MeSH
Brain Neoplasms, Ultrasonography, Brain, Neoplasms, Vascular Remodeling, Glioblastoma, Neurovascular Coupling, Tissues, Hemodynamics