Near-infrared dual bioluminescence imaging in mouse models of cancer using infraluciferin

Abstract

Bioluminescence imaging (BLI) is ubiquitous in scientific research for the sensitive tracking of biological processes in small animal models. However, due to the attenuation of visible light by tissue, and the limited set of near-infrared bioluminescent enzymes, BLI is largely restricted to monitoring single processes in vivo. Here we show, that by combining stabilised colour mutants of firefly luciferase (FLuc) with the luciferin (LH2) analogue infraluciferin (iLH2), near-infrared dual BLI can be achieved in vivo. The X-ray crystal structure of FLuc with a high-energy intermediate analogue, 5’-O-[N-(dehydroinfraluciferyl)sulfamoyl] adenosine (iDLSA) provides insight into the FLuc-iLH2 reaction leading to near-infrared light emission. The spectral characterisation and unmixing validation studies reported here established that iLH2 is superior to LH2 for the spectral unmixing of bioluminescent signals in vivo; which led to this novel near-infrared dual BLI system being applied to monitor both tumour burden and CAR T cell therapy within a systemically induced mouse tumour model.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Oct 15, 2019
Source ID
10.7554/elife.45801

Entities

People

  • Alastair Hotblack
  • Bruce R Branchini
  • Cassandra L Stowe
  • Daniela M Ciobota
  • Gabriela Kramer-marek
  • Gary N Parkinson
  • Giulia Agliardi
  • Helen Allan
  • James C Anderson
  • Maria Vinci
  • Mark F Lythgoe
  • Martin A Pule
  • Tammy L Kalber
  • Tara L. Southworth
  • Thomas A Burley

Organizations

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
  • Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
  • Connecticut College
  • Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
  • Institute of Cancer Research
  • National Science Foundation
  • University College London
  • Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Biology

Readers

  • Image Processing and Computer Vision.
  • Marine Ecotoxicology
  • Oncology (Cancer Research).