Autoradiography
Autoradiography remains the gold standard for measuring in vivo biodistribution of radiolabeled molecules. This imaging technique requires tissue sectioning and imaging on film or phosphor screen. A cryostat (CM 1850, Leica) operated and maintained by CMGI staff is available for sectioning frozen tissue. Tissue samples are fixed and frozen in O.C.T. (Tissue-Tek, USA) by liquid nitrogen, cryogen spray, or a dry ice slurry. The microtome allows sectioning in thicknesses from 1-60 µm in increments of 1 µm (1-10 µm), 2 µm (10-20 µm) and 5 µm (20-60 µm). Maximum specimen size is 55 mm, which allows longitudinal sectioning of a whole mouse (up to approximately 25 g). Protocols for autoradiography, histological staining (H&E) and immunohistochemistry are available.
Phosphor Imager: Autoradiographic specimen imaging is performed with storage phosphor screens, rather than film, using a STORM 860 Phosphor Imager (GE Healthcare; formerly Amersham Biosciences). Two phosphor screens (35 x 43 cm) with an intrinsic resolution of 50 µm are available. ImageQuant software provides qualitative and quantitative data analysis.
| MODALITY | MODEL | MANUFACTURER | RESOLUTION |
| PET | Inveon DPET | Siemens | ~ 1.5 mm |
| PET | Focus 120 | Siemens | ~ 1.5 mm |
| PET | Primate 4 | Siemens | ~ 2.0 mm |
| PET | microPET II | Custom-built | ~ 1 mm |
| SPECT | Inveon | Siemens | ~ 0.5 – 3 mm |
| CT | Inveon | Siemens | ~ 50 – 150 µm |
| MRI | Biospec 7T | Bruker | ~ 100 – 250 µm |
| Ultrasound | Sequoia | Siemens | ~ 100 – 500 µm |
| Optical | Maestro 2 | CRi (Caliper) | ~ 1 – 5 mm |
| Optical | IVIS 100 | Xenogen (Caliper) | ~ 1 – 5 mm |
| Autoradiography | Storm 860 | Amersham Biosciences | ~ 50 – 100 µm |
