Faculty — Crump Institute

Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging Faculty

Caius Radu

Assistant Professor, Molecular & Medical Pharmacology

Member, ACCESS Program: Dept. of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology, Cancer Molecular Imaging, ACCESS, Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging

PET imaging approaches to monitor T lymphocyte activation in cancer and autoimmunity

Work Email Address: cradu@mednet.ucla.edu

Office Address:
UCLA Crump Institute

Phone Numbers:
310-990-6488 Work Phone Number

Research Interest:

Our group aims to develop novel technologies to study fundamental mechanisms of immune regulation and malignant transformation. The scientific yield from this work should help widen the utility of molecular diagnostics and may lead to improved therapies for cancer and immune disorders, significantly impacting public health.

We are focusing on two main objectives:

(i) To develop Positron Emission Tomography (PET) biomarkers for diagnosis and treatment evaluation of immune disorders and cancer. We are also developing tools to non-invasively monitor cell-based therapies against cancer, including T lymphocytes and stem cells

(ii) To elucidate signal transduction networks and key biochemical and metabolic pathways in T lymphocytes and cancer cells quantifiable using PET biomarkers.

We have already demonstrated examples of these approaches and how they can be implemented in the clinic. By altering the chemotherapy drug gemcitabine we have created the molecule FAC, which in turn can be used as a probe for PET monitoring of the immune system and for non-invasive stratification of cancer patients treated with chemotherapy drugs. These findings have been recently published in Nature Medicine and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. We are now testing FAC and a series of related probes in humans. We are also actively seeking to develop a pipeline for PET probe discovery by trying to take the lessons learned from the FAC studies and apply them to the identification of novel molecular probes.

Selected Publications:

Laing Rachel E, Walter Martin A, Campbell Dean O, Herschman Harvey R, Satyamurthy Nagichettiar, Phelps Michael E, Czernin Johannes, Witte Owen N, Radu Caius G Noninvasive prediction of tumor responses to gemcitabine using positron emission tomography.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2009; 106(8): 2847-52.

Shu Chengyi J, Radu Caius G, Shelly Stephanie M, Vo Dan D, Prins Robert, Ribas Antoni, Phelps Michael E, Witte Owen N Quantitative PET reporter gene imaging of CD8+ T cells specific for a melanoma-expressed self-antigen.. International immunology. 2009; 21(2): 155-65.

Radu Caius G, Shu Chengyi J, Nair-Gill Evan, Shelly Stephanie M, Barrio Jorge R, Satyamurthy Nagichettiar, Phelps Michael E, Witte Owen N Molecular imaging of lymphoid organs and immune activation by positron emission tomography with a new [18F]-labeled 2'-deoxycytidine analog.. Nature medicine. 2008; 14(7): 783-8.

Yang, L.V., Radu, C.G., Roy, M., Sunyoung Lee, S., McLaughlin, J., Michael A. Teitell, M.A., M. Luisa Iruela-Arispe, M.L., and Witte, O.N. Vascular Abnormalities in Mice Deficient for the G Protein-Coupled Receptor GPR4 That Functions as a pH Sensor. Mol Cell Biol 2007; 27(4): 1334-47.

Bailey, R.C., Kwong, G.A, Radu, C.G., Witte, O.N., Heath, J.R. DNA-Encoded Antibody Libraries: A Unified Platform for Multiplexed Cell Sorting and Detection of Genes and Proteins. J Am Chem Soc 2007; .

Radu CG, Shu CJ, Shelly SM, Phelps ME, Witte ON Positron emission tomography with computed tomography imaging of neuroinflammation in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2007; .

Radu, C.G., Cheng, D., Nijagal, A., Riedinger, M.,, McLaughlin, J., Yang, L.V, Johnson, J., and Witte, O. N. Normal Immune Development and Glucocorticoid-induced Thymocyte Apoptosis in Mice Deficient for the T cell Death-Associated Gene-8 Receptor. Mol Cell Biol 2006; 26(2): 668-77.

Shu, C. J., Guo, S., Kim, J.Y., Shelly, S., Ray, P., Gambhir, S.S., Radu, C.G., and Witte, O. N. Visualization of a primary anti-tumor immune response by positron emission tomography. PNAS 2005; 102(48): 17412-7.

Radu, C.G., Nijagal, A., McLaughlin, J., Wang, L., Witte, O.N. Differential proton sensitivity of related G protein-coupled receptors T cell death-associated gene 8 and G2A expressed in immune cells. PNAS 2005; 102(5): 1632-7.

Yang, L.V., Radu, C.G., Wang, L., Riedinger, M., Witte, O.N. Gi-independent macrophage chemotaxis to lysophosphatidylcholine via the immunoregulatory GPCR G2A. Blood 2005; 105(3): 1127-34.

Radu, C.G., Yang, L.V., Riedinger, M., Au, M., Witte, O.N. T cell chemotaxis to lysophosphatidylcholine through the G2A receptor. PNAS 2004; 101(1): 245-50.

Click here to edit your Faculty Profile