Indiana University choose MOLECUBES
30th September 2020
β and X-CUBES preclinical PET/CT imagers installed at Indiana University
In partnership with LabLogic Systems Inc (Southern Scientific's US sister company), the Indiana University School of Medicine has recently acquired the latest generation preclinical PET/CT imaging platform from MOLECUBES.
The β-X-CUBE imaging platform has been installed in the lab of Prof. Paul R. Territo at the Indiana University School of Medicine for their research supporting the MODEL-AD and TREAT-AD grants provided by NIH/NIA as consortium open science grants.
MODEL-AD and TREAT-AD grants and Late Onset Alzheimer’s Disease (LOAD) research at Indiana University
The goal of these grants is to evaluate and characterize new animal models for Late Onset Alzheimer’s Disease (LOAD) and use these newly acquired insights to evaluate target engagement of novel and existing pharmaceuticals.
As such, this work will advance the understanding of LOAD and provide the scientific community with an extended toolbox to accelerate research in this therapeutic area. MOLECUBES is proud to support this initiative with their high-end high throughput imaging platform that will generate statistically relevant data for cross-sectional and longitudinal deep-phenotyping of new LOAD models.
Moreover, upon full characterization, the new PET/CT will be utilized to provide translationally relevant pharmacodynamic readouts of novel pharmaceutical target engagement in the MODEL-AD and TREAT-AD Preclinical Testing Core’s validated drug testing pipeline. Importantly, this approach will employ the same tools, techniques, and scientific rigor employed in clinical drug trials to advance our understanding of disease progression and accelerate the development of the next generation pharmaceuticals for LOAD.
Why MOLECUBES?
The team at IU was looking for a system, which has high sensitivity, resolution, and uniformity along with well-established and easy to follow workflows that would facilitate rapid multi-animal acquisition and reconstructions.
NEMA standards
The Molecubes PET/CT system has been rigorously tested according to NEMA standards, whose approaches are used to qualify clinical instrumentation for clinical operations, helps to ensure the translational relevance of these studies. Since both MODEL-AD and TREAT-AD are part of NIH/NIA’s Open Science program, a key criterion in the selection of a system was the ability to disseminate acquisition and reconstruction protocols and techniques rapidly, thus ensuring reproducibility needed for deep-phenotyping and pharmaceutical testing in AD.
Next-generation mouse models
In the context of the MODEL-AD, the DMP is focused on the production of the next-generation mouse models of Late Onset Alzheimer’s Disease (LOAD) and will be deep phenotyped via PET/CT. These model systems will be combined with novel pharmaceuticals generated by the TREAT-AD consortia (or the AD community) and submitted to the PTC for drug testing using translationally relevant radiopharmaceuticals and workflows on the Molecubes PET/CT imaging.