Jeff W. M. Bulte, Ph.D. Professor of Radiology, Biomedical Engineering, and Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Director, Cellular Imaging Section Institute for Cell Engineering Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science Division of MR Research 217 Traylor Bldg, 720 Rutland Ave Baltimore, MD 21205 Phone 410-614-2733 email jwmbulte@mri.jhu.edu

Research

The clinical development of novel immune and stem cell therapies calls for suitable methods that can follow the fate of cells non-invasively in humans at high resolution. The Bulte lab has pioneered methods to label cells magnetically (using tiny superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles) in order to make them visible by MR imaging (Click here). Following years of extensive animal research, this technology has recently been introduced in the clinic for dendritic cell cancer vaccines. MRI cell tracking is further pursued in animal models of dysmyelination, multiple sclerosis (with Ben-Hur) , brain tumors, spinal cord (Click here) stroke (Click here), and myocardial infarct (with Kraitchman). Novel reporter genes are also being developed that can provide contrast on MRI scans. Artificial proteins are being designed, cloned, and expressed in mammalian cells that contain specific proton exchangable groups of which the proton signal can be manipulated (with van Zijl). A new direction is not directly labeling cells, but instead labeling semi-permeable microcapsules (Click here) that offer immunoprotection of cellular therapeutics (Click here) The current focus is on encapsulated pancreatic beta cells that can cure diabetes in mice and are being used in a large animal (swine) model. While the lab is doing basic bench-type research, there is a strong interaction with the clinical interventional radiology (Arepally) and oncology (Levitsky) groups in order to bring the methodologies into the clinic.

Lab Members

	Mike McMahon, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, mcmahon@mri.jhu.edu
	Assaf Gilad, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, assaf@mri.jhu.edu
	Piotr Walczak, M.D., Assistant Professor, pwalczak@mri.jhu.edu
	Dian Arifin, postdoctoral fellow, darifin@mri.jhu.edu
	Dorota Kedziorek, M.D., postdoctoral fellow, dorota@mri.jhu.edu
	Heechul Kim, postdoctoral fellow, heechul@mri.jhu.edu
	Guanshu Liu, postdoctoral fellow, guanshu@mri.jhu.edu
	Naser Muja, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow, nmuja@mri.jhu.edu
	Jason Zhao, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow, jmzhao@mri.jhu.edu
	Kannie Chang, visiting postdoctoral fellow, kwychan@hkucc.hku.hk
,	Jaeyun Kim, visiting postdoctoral fellow, yun3311@snu.ac.kr
	Segun Bernard Technician, segun@mri.jhu.edu
	Chris Long, B.S., Ph.D. student, chris_long@jhmi.edu
	Stacey Cromer Berman, B.S., Ph.D. student, StaceyCromerBerman@jhmi.edu
	Thomas Link, undergraduate student, tlink2@jhu.edu

Publications

O. Hauger, E.E. Frost, R. van Heeswijk, C. Deminière, R. Xue, Y. Delmas, C. Combe, C.T.W. Moonen, N. Grenier, J.W.M. Bulte. MR evaluation of the glomerular homing of mesenchymal stem cells in a rat model of nephropathy. Radiology 238, 200-210 (2006). [Pubmed]

A. Lepore, P. Walczak, M. I. Fisher, M. Rao, J.W.M. Bulte. MR imaging of lineage-restricted neural precursors following transplantation into the adult spinal cord. Exp. Neurology 201, 49-59 (2006). [Pubmed]

B.P. Barnett, D.L. Kraitchman, C. Lauzon, C.A. Magee, P. Walczak, W.D. Gilson, A. Arepally, J.W.M. Bulte. Radiopaque alginate microcapsules as new diagnostic agents for X-ray visualization and immunoprotection of cellular therapeutics. Mol. Pharm. 3, 531-538 (2006). [Pubmed]

T. Ben-Hur, R. van Heeswijk, O. Einstein, M. Aharonovitch, R. Xue, E.E. Frost, S. Mori, B.E. Reubinoff, J.W.M. Bulte. In vivo MR tracking of magnetically labeled neural spheres transplanted in chronic EAE mice: relation between cell migration and inflammation. Magn. Reson. Med., Magn. Reson Med. 57, 164-171 (2007). [Pubmed]

P. Walczak, D.A. Kedziorek, A.A. Gilad, B.P. Barnett, J.W.M. Bulte. Applicability and limitations of MR tracking of neural stem cells with asymmetric cell division and rapid turnover: the case of the shiverer dysmyelinated mouse brain. Magn. Reson. Med. 58, 261-269 (2007).

A.A. Gilad, P.T. Winnard Jr., P.C.M. van Zijl, J.W.M. Bulte. MR reporter genes: Promises and pitfalls. NMR Biomed. 20, 275-290 (2007).

A.A. Gilad, M.T. McMahon, P. Walczak, P.T. Winnard Jr., V. Raman, H.W.M. van Laarhoven C.M. Skoglund, J.W.M. Bulte, P.C.M. van Zijl. Artificial reporter gene providing MRI contrast based on proton exchange. Nat. Biotechnol. 25, 217-219 (2007). [Pubmed]

B.P. Barnett, A. Arepally, P.V. Karmarkar, D. Qian, W.D. Gilson, P. Walczak, V. Howland, L. Lawler, C. Lauzon, M. Stuber, D.L. Kraitchman, J.W.M. Bulte. Magnetic resonance-guided, real-time targeted delivery and imaging of magnetocapsules immunoprotecting pancreatic islet cells. Nat. Med. 13, 986-991 (2007).

P. Walczak, J. Zhang, A.A. Gilad, D.A. Kedziorek, J. Ruiz-Cabello, R.G. Young, M.F. Pittenger, P.C.M. van Zijl, J. Huang, J.W.M. Bulte. Dual-modality monitoring of intraarterial mesenchymal stem cell delivery and brain engraftment following transient ischemia. Stroke 39, 1569-1574 (2008).

A.A. Gilad, P. Walczak, M.T. McMahon, H.B. Na, J.H. Lee, K. An, T. Hyeon, P.C.M. van Zijl, J.W.M. Bulte. MR tracking of transplanted cells with positive contrast using manganese oxide nanoparticles. Magn. Reson. Med., in press.

J.M. Zhao, Y. Har-el, M.T. McMahon, J. Zhou, A.D. Sherry, G. Sgorous, J.W.M. Bulte, P.C.M. van Zijl. Size-induced enhancement of chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) contrast in liposomes. J. Am. Chem. Soc., in press.
M.T. McMahon, A.A. Gilad, M.A. DeLiso, S. Cromer Berman. J.W.M. Bulte, P.C.M. van Zijl. New multi-color polypeptide DIACEST contrast agents for MR imaging. Magn. Reson. Med., in press.