Molecular Imaging Using Bioluminescence

Recent progress in the development of non-invasive imaging technologies continues to strengthen the role of molecular imaging in biological research. Small animal imaging with bioluminescence has been validated recently in a variety of research models and have been shown to provide continuous quantitative monitoring of the location(s), magnitude, and time-variation of gene delivery and/or expression. This article reviews the role of in vivo bioluminescence imaging technologies as they have been used in imaging gene delivery and gene expression for molecular imaging applications. The studies published to date demonstrate that bioluminescence imaging tools will help to understand human diseases through small animal models. disease progression at a molecular pathological level; and (7) To create the possibility of achieving all of the above goals of imaging in a rapid, reproducible, and quantitative manner, so as to be able to monitor time-dependent experimental, developmental, environmental, and therapeutic influences on gene products in the same animal or patient. Diverse optical imaging technologies have been used to investigate molecular events in biology research which is focused on characterizing molecular interaction, signal transduction, enzyme activity, receptor/transporter status and biodistribution of various optical substrates (tracers). The underlying principles of in vitro optical imaging can now be tailored to in vivo optical imaging modalities such as bioluminescence and fluorescence imaging. The development, validation, and application of bioluminescence imaging techniques in living subjects should further enhance our understanding of disease mechanisms and go hand in hand with the development of molecular imaging (1-3).