|James P. Basilion, Ph.D.
Molecular imaging, defined as the in vivo characterization of biological processes at the cellular and molecular level, is an attempt to image the molecular make-up of the macrofeatures currently visualized using "classical" diagnostic imaging techniques. Classically, detection of malignant tumor cells in a background of normal or hyperplastic benign tissue is often based on differences in physical properties between tissues, which are frequently minimal, resulting in low contrast resolution
My laboratory concentrates on research related to the development and application of Molecular Imaging technologies. Specifically we are interested in designing novel imaging tools to image individual and multiple molecular markers of disease. We believe that imaging tissues based on the underlying molecular rather than macromolecular differences will result in a substantial increase in the sensitivity and specificity of medical imaging. Some areas of active research include defining "molecular signatures" of disease, developing paradigms to image multiple markers of disease simultaneously, developing methods to image intracellular disease markers in breast cancer, and developing molecular imaging technologies that allow for intraoperative assessment of disease progression.
|•||Sato, F., Fukuhara, H., and Basilion, J.P. Effects of Hormone Deprivation and 2-Methoxyestradiol Combination Therapy on Hormone Dependent Prostate Cancer In Vivo. In press Neoplasia, 2005.|
|•||Tsourkas, A., Newton, G., Perez, J., Basilion, J.P., and Weissleder, R. Detection of Peroxidase-Mediated Dityrosine Formation with Enhanced Yellow Fluorescent Protein. Anal Chem. 2005, 77(9):2862-7.|
|•||Savellano, D.H., Bos, E., Blondet, C., Sato, F., Abe, T., Josephson, L., Weissleder, R., Gaudet, J., Sgroi, D., Peters, P.J., and Basilion, J.P. The Transferrin Receptor: A Potential Molecular Imaging Marker for Human Cancer. Neoplasia, 2003 5(6): 495-506.|
|•||Abe, T., Terada, K., Wakimoto, H., Bookstein, R., Basilion, J.P., and Chiocca, E.A. PTEN decreases in vivo vascularization of experimental gliomas in spite of pro-angiogenic stimuli. Cancer Research, 2003 May 1;63(9):2300-5.|
|•||Ichikawa, T., Hogemann, D., Saeki, Y., Tyminski, E., Terada, K., Weissleder, R., Chiocca, E.A., and Basilion, J.P. MR Imaging of Transgene Expression: Correlation to Therapeutic Gene Expression. Neoplasia, 2002, vol 4, No. 6, pp. 523-530.|
|•||Weissleder, R., Moore, A.,Ph.D., Mahmood-Bhorade, U., Benveniste, H. Chiocca, E.A., Basilion, J.P. High resolution in vivo imaging of transgene expression. Nature Medicine, 2000, 6:351-355.|