LUCIFERASE MOLECULAR IN VIVO IMAGING FACILITY Mark W. Dewhirst, DVM, PhD, Director Molecular imaging of gene expression in vivo in real time at the cellular level is a rapidly growing area of cancer research that will provide insight into the origin and progression of cancer at the genetic level. The ability to obtain spatial and functional information on gene expression at the cellular level, and to follow gene expression in real time in the same group of animals, will provide insights not previously possible with classical histopathology techniques. The Xenogen Corporation MS in vivo bioluminescence imaging system is recognized as being at the forefront of this emerging field. The long-term goal of this plan is to establish a comprehensive shared imaging facility at Duke University Medical Center to provide cancer researchers access to this cutting-edge technology. In the past year, cancer researchers at Duke have begun to explore the potential of bioluminescence imaging in projects such as non-invasive monitoring of metastatic tumor growth, expression patterns of adenoviral gene therapy vectors following intratumoral administration, long term expression patterns of genes following AAV administration, and sm'vival of tumor cells after irradiation. In this grant, we seek the resources to enable the expansion of the current facility to include imaging of immunodeficient animals, and to upgrade the technical capabilities of the existing system in order to provide Duke researchers with the best available tools for their studies.
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