University of California Davis, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
J Biophotonics. 2011 Sep;4(9):650-8. doi: 10.1002/jbio.201100042. Epub 2011 Jul 19.
Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and -9 play important roles in the progression of atherosclerosis. This study aims to determine whether MMP-2 and -9 content in the fibrotic caps of atherosclerotic plaque is correlated with plaque autofluorescence. A time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy (TR-LIFS) system was used to measure the autofluorescence and assess the biochemical composition of human plaques obtained from carotid endarterectomy. Results presented here demonstrate for the first time the ability to characterize the biochemical composition as it relates to MMP-2 and -9 content in the atherosclerotic plaque cap using a label-free imaging technique implemented with a fiberoptic TR-LIFS system.
基质金属蛋白酶（MMP）-2 和 -9 在动脉粥样硬化的进展中发挥重要作用。本研究旨在确定动脉粥样硬化斑块纤维帽中的 MMP-2 和 -9 含量是否与斑块自发荧光有关。采用时间分辨激光诱导荧光光谱（TR-LIFS）系统测量人颈动脉内膜切除术获得的斑块的自发荧光，并评估其生化成分。本研究首次证明了使用光纤 TR-LIFS 系统实现的无标记成像技术来表征与 MMP-2 和 -9 含量相关的动脉粥样硬化斑块帽的生化成分的能力。
