Authors:
R Pandurangi¹, M Dyszlewski², ¹Tyco Mallinckrodt - Hazelwood - United States of America, ²Tyco - Hazelwood - United States of America,

Tissue repair is a fundamental and natural property of all vascularized tissues. The molecular biology of tissue repair, particularly in post myocardial infarction (MI) involves myofibroblasts (myoFbs) cells that appear initially only to disappear once the wound is healed. However, proliferation of myoFbs is implicated in the adverse remodelling of the heart leading to heart failure. Hence, monitoring the activity of myoFbs in vivo has a clinical rationale in post MI patient management.
Several biomarkers overexpressed by the cells following MI include Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE), Angiotensin II receptor (Ang II), Matrix Metalloproteinases (MMP), Transforming Growth Factor-b (TGF-b) and Connective Tissue Growth factor (CTGF).
Molecular probes are designed to incorporate imagable moieties (e.g. 99mTc, 111in) that can bind to the biomarkers leading to the potential imaging of the differential activity of biomarkers at a molecular level may lead to the information on the transition from adaptive to adverse remodelling will be discussed.