Μελέτη βιολογικών λειτουργιών με μοριακή τομογραφία φθορισμού

Abstract

Given that Optical Tomography is capable of quantitatively imaging the distribution of fluorophores and fluorescent proteins in vivo, there has been a great deal of interest in developing optical imaging systems under optimal experimental conditions. A novel system has been implemented that enables three dimensional (3D) imaging of fluorescent probes in whole animals using a non-contact set up, in parallel with a 3D surface reconstruction algorithm. The non-contact approach is a significant step forward in terms of experimental simplicity and provides comfort to the targeted animal. It allows the use of a CCD cameras as detector, resulting in large data sets, thus improving the accuracy of the inversion models used for quantitative 3D reconstruction of fluorochrome distribution, as well as facilitating imaging with higher spatial resolution. In this study the system is tested in determining the distribution of Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) expressed by T-lymphocytes in the hCD2-GFP transgenic mouse model, thus demonstrating the potential of the system for studying the immunology-based studies. In vivo measurements have been carried in the GFP CLIP-170 mouse model.