Contag Christopher H
Departments of Pediatrics, Microbiology & Immunology and Radiology, E150 Clark Center, MC 5427, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
Neuroimaging Clin N Am. 2006 Nov;16(4):633-54, ix. doi: 10.1016/j.nic.2006.08.002.
Advances in imaging have enabled the study of cellular and molecular processes in the context of the living body that include cell migration patterns, location and extent of gene expression, degree of protein-protein interaction, and levels of enzyme activity. These tools, which operate over a range of scales, resolutions, and sensitivities, have opened up broad new areas of investigation where the influence of organ systems and functional circulation is intact. There are a myriad of imaging modalities available, each with its own advantages and disadvantages, depending on the specific application. Among these modalities, optical imaging techniques, including in vivo bioluminescence imaging and fluorescence imaging, use visible light to interrogate biology in the living body. Optimal imaging with these modalities require that the appropriate marker be used to tag the process of interest to make it uniquely visible using a particular imaging technology. For each optical modality, there are various labels to choose from that range from dyes that permit tissue contrast and dyes that can be activated by enzymatic activity, to gene-encoding proteins with optical signatures that can be engineered into specific biological processes. This article provides and overview of optical imaging technologies and commonly used labels, focusing on bioluminescence and fluorescence, and describes several examples of how these tools are applied to biological questions relating to the central nervous system.
成像技术的进步使得在活体环境中研究细胞和分子过程成为可能，这些过程包括细胞迁移模式、基因表达的位置和范围、蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用的程度以及酶活性水平。这些工具在一系列尺度、分辨率和灵敏度上发挥作用，开辟了广泛的新研究领域，在这些领域中器官系统和功能循环的影响是完整的。有无数种成像方式可供选择，每种方式都有其自身的优缺点，这取决于具体应用。在这些方式中，光学成像技术，包括体内生物发光成像和荧光成像，利用可见光来研究活体中的生物学现象。使用这些方式进行最佳成像需要使用适当的标记物来标记感兴趣的过程，以便使用特定的成像技术使其独特可见。对于每种光学方式，有各种标签可供选择，从允许组织对比的染料、可被酶活性激活的染料，到具有可设计到特定生物过程中的光学特征的基因编码蛋白。本文提供了光学成像技术和常用标记物的概述，重点是生物发光和荧光，并描述了这些工具如何应用于与中枢神经系统相关的生物学问题的几个例子。
