Volumetric tomography of fluorescent proteins through small animals in vivo.

Abstract

Volumetric detection and accurate quantification of fluorescent proteins in entire animals would greatly enhance our ability to monitor biological processes in vivo. Here we present a quantitative tomographic technique for visualization of superficial and deep-seated (>2-3 mm) fluorescent protein activity in vivo. We demonstrate noninvasive imaging of lung tumor progression in a murine model, as well as imaging of gene delivery using a herpes virus vector. This technology can significantly improve imaging capacity over the current state of the art and should find wide in vivo imaging applications in drug discovery, immunology, and cancer research.