Bacterial association with metals enables in vivo monitoring of microbiota using magnetic resonance imaging

Bacterial association with metals enables in vivo monitoring of microbiota using magnetic resonance imaging | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Bacterial association with metals enables in vivo monitoring of microbiota using magnetic resonance imaging Donna Goldhawk, Sarah Donnelly, Moayyad Nassar, Salvan Hassan, and 5 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3683749/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 03 Sep, 2024 Read the published version in Communications Biology → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Bacteria constitute a significant part of the biomass of the human microbiota, but their interactions are complex and difficult to replicate outside the host. Exploiting the superior resolution of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine signal parameters of selected human isolates may allow tracking of their dispersion throughout the body. We investigated longitudinal and transverse MRI relaxation rates and found significant differences between several bacterial strains. Common commensal strains of lactobacilli display notably high MRI relaxation rates, partially explained by elevated cellular manganese content, while other species contain more iron than manganese. Lactobacillus crispatus show particularly high values, 4-fold greater than any other species; up to 60-fold greater signal than relevant tissue background; and a linear relationship between relaxation rate and fraction of live cells. Different bacterial strains have detectable, repeatable MRI relaxation rates that in the future may enable monitoring of their persistence in the human body for enhanced molecular imaging. Biological sciences/Biophysics/Nanoscale biophysics Biological sciences/Microbiology/Bacteria/Bacterial techniques and applications Health sciences/Biomarkers/Diagnostic markers bacteria microbiota molecular imaging magnetic resonance imaging positron emission tomography cell tracking Lactobacillus manganese bladder Full Text Additional Declarations Yes there is potential Competing Interest. A patent application is under examination. As requested, details are given at the end of the manuscript. Supplementary Files Supplementaryfigsandtables29Nov23.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 03 Sep, 2024 Read the published version in Communications Biology → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-3683749","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":266238737,"identity":"b3b30ca4-8473-450a-8cdb-12ad020af739","order_by":0,"name":"Donna Goldhawk","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7285-8071","institution":"Lawson Health Research Institute","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Donna","middleName":"","lastName":"Goldhawk","suffix":""},{"id":266238738,"identity":"40b2d203-5cd5-4a56-aea7-d9842d817978","order_by":1,"name":"Sarah Donnelly","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Lawson Health Research Institute","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sarah","middleName":"","lastName":"Donnelly","suffix":""},{"id":266238739,"identity":"7619838d-e7ec-4e9e-a5dd-8a55705bee47","order_by":2,"name":"Moayyad Nassar","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Lawson Health Research Institute","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Moayyad","middleName":"","lastName":"Nassar","suffix":""},{"id":266238740,"identity":"6c742ac8-7111-4e19-bc2d-8af353a42ad9","order_by":3,"name":"Salvan Hassan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Lawson Health Research Institute","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Salvan","middleName":"","lastName":"Hassan","suffix":""},{"id":266238741,"identity":"4f9d97f3-c637-4bdc-be32-2851f60721ec","order_by":4,"name":"Neil Gelman","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Lawson Health Research Institute","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Neil","middleName":"","lastName":"Gelman","suffix":""},{"id":266238742,"identity":"2f65bc12-0e8e-481d-a519-ec9f7dc54182","order_by":5,"name":"Jonathan Thiessen","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Lawson Health Research Institute","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jonathan","middleName":"","lastName":"Thiessen","suffix":""},{"id":266238743,"identity":"62c65d29-458b-4796-a3da-e815440b789c","order_by":6,"name":"R. Thompson","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Lawson Health Research Institute","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"R.","middleName":"","lastName":"Thompson","suffix":""},{"id":266238744,"identity":"9c609674-b460-44c1-a953-606915685160","order_by":7,"name":"Frank Prato","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Lawson Health Research Institute","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Frank","middleName":"","lastName":"Prato","suffix":""},{"id":266238745,"identity":"4b7b7184-5631-4267-ad34-121e9dcd3dd2","order_by":8,"name":"Jeremy Burton","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3591-6436","institution":"Western University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jeremy","middleName":"","lastName":"Burton","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2023-11-29 21:46:04","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3683749/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3683749/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-06783-5","type":"published","date":"2024-09-03T04:00:00+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":63998564,"identity":"4f9abde9-e493-4c93-ae73-4bcdae7be213","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-09-04 18:22:18","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1320446,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Donnellyetal2023manuscripttableslegendsfigures.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3683749/v1_covered_84054e49-9e40-461c-94c3-a7ef33155a5c.pdf"},{"id":49446876,"identity":"5dbf2238-4043-4bcb-a809-51a868f58d97","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-01-11 02:57:46","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":495372,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Supplementaryfigsandtables29Nov23.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3683749/v1/45741be7f9ac34338424a6b0.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"\u003cb\u003eYes\u003c/b\u003e there is potential Competing Interest.\nA patent application is under examination. As requested, details are given at the end of the manuscript.","formattedTitle":"Bacterial association with metals enables in vivo monitoring of microbiota using magnetic resonance imaging","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"bacteria, microbiota, molecular imaging, magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, cell tracking, Lactobacillus, manganese, bladder","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3683749/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3683749/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Bacteria constitute a significant part of the biomass of the human microbiota, but their interactions are complex and difficult to replicate outside the host. Exploiting the superior resolution of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine signal parameters of selected human isolates may allow tracking of their dispersion throughout the body. We investigated longitudinal and transverse MRI relaxation rates and found significant differences between several bacterial strains. Common commensal strains of lactobacilli display notably high MRI relaxation rates, partially explained by elevated cellular manganese content, while other species contain more iron than manganese. Lactobacillus crispatus show particularly high values, 4-fold greater than any other species; up to 60-fold greater signal than relevant tissue background; and a linear relationship between relaxation rate and fraction of live cells. Different bacterial strains have detectable, repeatable MRI relaxation rates that in the future may enable monitoring of their persistence in the human body for enhanced molecular imaging.","manuscriptTitle":"Bacterial association with metals enables in vivo monitoring of microbiota using magnetic resonance imaging","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-01-11 02:57:42","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3683749/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"communications-biology","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"commsbio","sideBox":"Learn more about [Communications Biology](http://www.nature.com/commsbio/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Communications Biology","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Communications Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"23931185-29d8-49f8-9184-62985c3cd129","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 11th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[{"id":28056580,"name":"Biological sciences/Biophysics/Nanoscale biophysics"},{"id":28056581,"name":"Biological sciences/Microbiology/Bacteria/Bacterial techniques and applications"},{"id":28056582,"name":"Health sciences/Biomarkers/Diagnostic markers"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2024-09-04T17:40:35+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-3683749","link":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-06783-5","journal":{"identity":"communications-biology","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Communications Biology"},"publishedOn":"2024-09-03 04:00:00","publishedOnDateReadable":"September 3rd, 2024"},"versionCreatedAt":"2024-01-11 02:57:42","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1038/s42003-024-06783-5","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-06783-5","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-3683749","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-3683749","identity":"rs-3683749","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}