Formulation and Production of Collagen Targeting Protein MRI Contrast Agent for Early Detection of Liver Cancer and fibrosis

Author

Brenda-Ruth MimbaFollow

Date of Award

12-14-2022

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Chemistry

First Advisor

Dr. Jenny Yang

Second Advisor

Dr. Ming Luo

Third Advisor

Dr. Kathryn Grant

Abstract

As a chronic disease, deaths caused by cancer are estimated to increase to 11.5 million by 2030. Patient response to treatment and chances of survival improves significantly when cancer is diagnosed at an early stage. MRI is a superior imaging modality but is limited due to the low relaxation rates of current contrast agent. Dr. Jenny Yang’s lab engineered a protein-based MRI contrast agent with high relaxation rates. hProca32.collagen contains two cysteine residues and must be refolded to form intra-strand disulfide bonds, which is necessary for its activity. In this thesis, the purification and refolding of hProca32 were optimized to yield a pure protein that is approximately 80% monomer. Various formulation conditions are reported, which allow hProca32.collagen to have a good collagen-binding affinity (1.3 µM). It exhibits good relaxivity values (30 and 42 mM^-1s^-1 for r₁ and r₂, respectively), which are 10-fold greater than clinically available contrast agents.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.57709/32737683

Recommended Citation

Mimba, Brenda-Ruth, "Formulation and Production of Collagen Targeting Protein MRI Contrast Agent for Early Detection of Liver Cancer and fibrosis." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2022.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/32737683

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