Abstract
Noninvasive in vivo assays are required for the study of biological processes that are dynamic involving intact organ systems and complex physiologic changes, such as tissue oxygenation. Optical methods that use external light sources in the near infrared (nir) have been developed for oxygenation determinations and have widespread application in medicine and biomedical research (Jobsis, 1977; Benaron et al., 1997). Further refinements in these methods are providing powerful tools for research; however, access to in vivo information relating to some physiologic changes can not be assessed using nir monitoring and imaging. To address this unmet need for additional real-time bioassays, we have developed an in vivo method utilizing bioluminescent reporters, or photoproteins, as indicators of biological functions (Contag et al., 1995). In contrast to other optical methods which use external sources of light, the photoproteins provide an internal source of light that can be monitored externally as an indicator of biological processes such as infection and gene expression (Contag et al., 1995, 1996, 1997).
Published Version
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