Microscopic resolution imaging and proteomics correlation at histogeographically identical location: point by point correlation between ex vivo tissue imaging with high field MRI and multiplex tissue immunoblotting for proteomics profiling

Histopathologic correlation is an essential component for validation of the radiological findings. There has been significant advancement in medical imaging technologies, including molecular imaging, such that, it is essential to establish the system beyond histopathologic correlation, to protein profiling that can be correlated with imaging at anatomically identical manner for accurate examination. Recently, a novel technology for proteomic profiling has been established, called "multiplex tissue immunoblotting (MTIB)" which can offer studying multiple protein expression from a single histology slide. Therefore, we attempted to establish the system to obtain an identical plane between high resolution imaging and histopathology at microscopic level so that proteomic profiling can be readily performed using MTIB. A variety of tissues were obtained from autopsy materials and initially scanned with high field MRI (14T) ex vivo along with the marker for tissue orientation. The histology slides were prepared from post-scanned tissue under the marker-guidance in order to obtain an identical plane with high resolution imaging. Subsequently, MTIB was carried out to study expression of proteins of interest and point by point correlation with high resolution imaging was performed at histogeographically identical manner.