Department of Experimental Medicine and Biochemical Science, Microbiology Section, Perugia, Italy.
Virulence. 2012 Jan-Feb;3(1):15-7. doi: 10.4161/viru.3.1.19247. Epub 2012 Jan 1.
Bioluminescence imaging allows the visualization of the temporal and spatial progression of biological phenomena, in particular infection, by non-invasive methods in vivo. This nature-borrowed technology has been successfully used to monitor bacterial infections but recent studies have also succeeded in tracking fungal infections such as those caused by the two major opportunistic fungal pathogens Candida albicans and Aspergillus fumigatus. The findings of Donat and collaborators published in this issue now show that by combining the sensitivity of the Gaussia princeps luciferase with a surface display expression system it is possible to perform longitudinal infection studies on cutaneous forms of aspergillosis with a small number of animals. Besides providing new and valuable information in the field of aspergillosis, the findings of Donat et al. offer a new perspective on the general applicability of bioluminescence methodologies for eukaryotic pathogens where the bacterial lux operon cannot be exploited.
生物发光成像是一种非侵入性方法，可用于活体可视化生物现象（尤其是感染）的时空进展。这项借鉴自然的技术已成功用于监测细菌感染，但最近的研究也成功地跟踪了真菌感染，如由两种主要的机会性真菌病原体白色念珠菌和烟曲霉引起的感染。本期 Donat 及其同事发表的研究结果表明，通过将海肾荧光素酶的灵敏度与表面展示表达系统相结合，可以使用少量动物对皮肤曲霉病进行纵向感染研究。除了在曲霉病领域提供新的有价值的信息外，Donat 等人的研究结果还为生物发光方法在无法利用细菌 lux 操纵子的真核病原体中的普遍适用性提供了新的视角。
