Andreana Marco, Sentosa Ryan, Sturtzel Caterina, Pfister Martin, Werkmeister René, Schmitt Anna, Traver David, Leitgeb Rainer, Drexler Wolfgang, Distel Martin, Unterhuber Angelika
Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, 1090, Austria.
Innovative Cancer Models, St. Anna Children's Cancer Research Institute, Vienna, 1090, Austria.
Adv Sci (Weinh). 2025 Sep;12(33):e15176. doi: 10.1002/advs.202415176. Epub 2025 Jun 25.
Aberrant angiogenesis is a hallmark of many pathologies. In cancer, tumor growth and metastasis strongly depend on angiogenesis triggered by neoplastic cells. Antiangiogenic therapies are approved to treat different kinds of cancer. However, the success of these treatments is so far limited as some patients do not respond at all and others develop resistances. Thus, a deeper understanding of the mechanisms driving tumor angiogenesis and the variations in tumor vessels is crucial. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) is a fast volumetric imaging technique that provides detailed insights into tumor vascularization and perfusion of vessels in a label-free and non-invasive manner. An ultra-high resolution OCTA and confocal fluorescence imaging pipeline are developed to analyze tumor vascularization and blood perfusion in vivo, using a zebrafish cancer model. OCTA imaging operating at 800 nm is optimized to show slow blood flow allowing to compare the functionality of blood vessels in healthy and tumor-bearing zebrafish. Furthermore, effects of small compounds on tumor vascularization can be investigated with our setup. The key outcomes include a qualitative assessment of vascularization and blood vessel perfusion, along with a quantitative analysis of vessel structure, to evaluate how effective the drugs were at different concentrations.
异常血管生成是许多疾病的一个标志。在癌症中,肿瘤生长和转移强烈依赖于肿瘤细胞引发的血管生成。抗血管生成疗法已被批准用于治疗不同类型的癌症。然而,这些治疗方法的成功目前有限,因为一些患者根本没有反应,而另一些患者则产生了耐药性。因此,深入了解驱动肿瘤血管生成的机制以及肿瘤血管的变化至关重要。光学相干断层扫描血管造影(OCTA)是一种快速的容积成像技术,能够以无标记和非侵入性的方式详细洞察肿瘤血管生成和血管灌注情况。利用斑马鱼癌症模型,开发了一种超高分辨率OCTA和共聚焦荧光成像流程,用于在体内分析肿瘤血管生成和血液灌注。将工作在800 nm的OCTA成像进行优化,以显示缓慢的血流,从而能够比较健康斑马鱼和荷瘤斑马鱼血管的功能。此外,利用我们的装置可以研究小分子化合物对肿瘤血管生成的影响。关键结果包括对血管生成和血管灌注的定性评估,以及对血管结构的定量分析,以评估不同浓度药物的有效性。