Keenan, M., Leung, S., Rice, F., Wall, R. A., & Barton, J. K. (2013). Fluorescence-based SMC and OCT endoscope to study aberrant crypt foci in the mouse colon. ENDOSCOPIC MICROSCOPY VIII, 8575.
Hariri, L. P., Bonnema, G. T., Schmidt, K., Korde, V., Winkler, A. M., Hatch, K., Brewer, M., & Barton, J. K. (2009). Laparoscopic optical coherence tomographic imaging of human ovarian cancer. ADVANCED BIOMEDICAL AND CLINICAL DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEMS VII, 7169.
Winkler, A. M., Rice, P., Backer, J. M., Drezek, R. A., Romanowski, M., & Barton, J. K. (2008). Fluorescent and scattering contrast agents in a mouse model of colorectal cancer. LASERS IN SURGERY AND MEDICINE, 12-12.
Rice, P. F., Ehrichs, K. G., Jones, M. S., Chen, H., Hsu, C. H., Abril, E. R., Nagle, R. B., Besselsen, D. G., Barton, J. K., & Ignatenko, N. A. (2018). Does Mutated K-RAS Oncogene Attenuate the Effect of Sulindac in Colon Cancer Chemoprevention?. Cancer prevention research (Philadelphia, Pa.), 11(1), 16-26.
The NSAID sulindac has been successfully used alone or in combination with other agents to suppress colon tumorigenesis in patients with genetic predisposition and also showed its efficacy in prevention of sporadic colon adenomas. At the same time, some experimental and clinical reports suggest that a mutant K-RAS oncogene may negate sulindac antitumor efficacy. To directly assess sulindac activity at suppressing premalignant lesions carrying K-RAS mutation, we utilized a novel mouse model with an inducible colon-specific expression of the mutant K-ras oncogene (K-rasG12D ). Tumor development and treatment effects were monitored by minimally invasive endoscopic Optical coherence tomography. Expression of the mutant K-ras allele accelerated azoxymethane (AOM)-induced colon carcinogenesis in C57BL/6 mice, a strain otherwise resistant to this carcinogen. Sulindac completely prevented AOM-induced tumor formation in K-ras wild-type (K-ras wt) animals. In K-rasG12D -mutant mice, a 38% reduction in tumor number, an 83% reduction in tumor volume (P ≤ 0.01) and an increase in the number of adenoma-free mice (P = 0.04) were observed. The partial response of K-RasG12D animals to sulindac treatment was evident by the decrease in mucosal thickness (P 0.01) and delay in progression of the precancerous aberrant crypt foci to adenomas. Molecular analyses showed significant induction in cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2), cleaved caspase-3 (CC3), and Ki-67 expression by AOM, but not sulindac treatment, in all genotypes. Our data underscore the importance of screening for K-RAS mutations in individuals with colon polyps to provide more personalized interventions targeting mutant K-RAS signaling pathways. Cancer Prev Res; 11(1); 16-26. ©2017 AACR.
Welge, W. A., & Barton, J. K. (2015). Expanding Functionality of Commercial Optical Coherence Tomography Systems by Integrating a Custom Endoscope. PloS one, 10(9), e0139396.
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a useful imaging modality for detecting and monitoring diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and other tubular structures. The non-destructiveness of OCT enables time-serial studies in animal models. While turnkey commercial research OCT systems are plenty, researchers often require custom imaging probes. We describe the integration of a custom endoscope with a commercial swept-source OCT system and generalize this description to any imaging probe and OCT system. A numerical dispersion compensation method is also described. Example images demonstrate that OCT can visualize the mouse colon crypt structure and detect adenoma in vivo.
