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Optical imaging of in vivo gene expression: a critical assessment of the methodology and associated technologies

Gene Therapy volume 11, pages S85–S91 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Following and quantifying the expression of reporter gene expression in vivo is very important to monitor the expression of therapeutic genes in targeted tissues in disease models and/or to assess the effectiveness of systems of gene therapy delivery. Gene expression of luminescent or fluorescent proteins can be detected directly on living animals by simply observing the associated optical signals by means of a cooled charged-coupled device camera. More accurate resolution can be obtained with more sophisticated technologies. Time-course and quasi-quantitative monitoring of the expression can be obtained on a given animal and followed on a large time window. The present paper describes the physical and technological methodologies and associated problems of in vivo optical imaging. Several examples of in vivo detection of gene delivery are described.

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Acknowledgements

Support from the CNRS CEA ‘Imagerie du petit animal’ program, from the ARC (Grand Sud) and from the ‘Cliniporator’ EU project should be acknowledged, as well as helpful discussions with Dr Moreau of the CBD CNRS (Toulouse).

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  1. IPBS/CNRS (UMR 5089), Toulouse, France

    M Golzio, M-P Rols, B Gabriel & J Teissié

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  1. M Golzio
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Golzio, M., Rols, MP., Gabriel, B. et al. Optical imaging of in vivo gene expression: a critical assessment of the methodology and associated technologies. Gene Ther 11 (Suppl 1), S85–S91 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.gt.3302374

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