Research Paper Volume 5, Issue 2 pp 100—110

Figure 2. Effects of eRapa on pituitary and thyroid tumor development and growth. To identify effects on tumors, we used MRI as a non-invasive method to longitudinally monitor individual Rb^+/− mice. High-resolution images were obtained on a very high field strength Bruker Pharmascan 7.0T animal MRI scanner using a coil to focus on pituitary and thyroid tumors. Images were acquired using a spoiled gradient echo named Fast low angle shot MRI (FLASH) on the scanner. Images were acquired to yield predominantly T1 weighted contrast with TE (echo time) 4.5 msec, TR (repetition time) 450 msec, FA (Flip angle) 40 degrees, FOV (field of view) 20 x 20 mm, in plane spatial resolution 0.078 x 0.078 mm. Tumor volume was determined for each time point. (A) Serially acquired MRI images from eRapa and Eudragit-fed control mice at 9, 11 and 12 months of age. (B) Tumor volumes calculated from MRI image stacks at each time point comparing individual mice at multiple ages. Tumors in two of the Eudragit-fed (control) mice are detected earlier and grow faster than the 3 eRapa-fed mice.