Electron Paramagnetic Resonance to Investigate Gadolinium-Glycosaminoglycan Complexes (A03)

• Subject Area: Biophysics
• Term: since 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 372486779

Gadolinium-based MRI contrast agents can release to a small extent their gadolinium ion. The ion can bind to heavily sulfated glycosaminoglycans, which occur at higher levels in inflamed tissue. This transchelation process has, even as a rare event, the potential to be used as a tissue-type-specific marker for visualizing pathologic processes in the extracellular matrix. Therefore, investigation of parameters influencing the gadolinium transchelation amount are important. In the CRC, we use methods of electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy to characterize the transchelation process and gadolinium-binding motifs in glycosaminoglycans.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1340: In vivo Visualization of Extracellular Matrix Pathology „Matrix in Vision“
• Applicant Institution: shared FU Berlin and HU Berlin through:; Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Robert Bittl; Dr. Christian Teutloff