Abstract

The review is on molecular imaging reporter gene expression probes to generate the image contrast. These probes utilize the imaging technology specific to microscopic physical, physiological, metabolic events and changes to differentiate pathology from normal tissue. Reporter gene expression technique generates the specific information at micro- and nanoscopic scale with details of specific molecular or metabolic event. The present paper reviews a database of measurable imaging methods of transgene expression of maltose binding domain with resource of protein molecules in bioimaging. Molecular bioimaging is based on imaging the transgene expression products and offers multimodal real-time genomic kinetics. With this aim, gene expression probes combined with adjunct molecular imaging techniques are identified and their applications are defined for: 1. noninvasive in vivo imaging methods for specific molecular expression and interactions of protein-protein domains, 2. to visualize time-based molecular events in the tissues, 3. to visualize and follow-up trafficking and targeting of cells, 4. to optimize conditions of gene therapy and monitoring drug therapeutics, 5. to develop rapid drug chemosensitivity assay to image the drug effect at cellular and molecular level by multimodal radioimaging, optical and bioluminescence imaging. The feasibility of multimodal molecular imaging techniques on one platform is reported to visualize the cells in animal body after administration of binding domain ligand into animals through oral, intraperitoneal, intravenous, and intrathecal routes. The binding domain ligand acts as a secretory signal or plasma membrane trafficking signal domain. It can be visualized by positron emission tomography imaging. Today, the main challenge in developing multimodal multifunctional double labeled molecular imaging probes is to achieve goal of rapid, reproducible multimodal imaging (optical, physical, biosensor) or radiolabel mapping (PET, CT) in noninvasive and quantitative manner that can give information in time-dependent experimental, developmental, environmental and therapeutic influence on gene products and proteins in animals or patients. This patent review will be useful resource database of molecules as ‘bioinformatics of potential reporters’ and multimodal imaging methods on same platform resource in selecting molecules to develop imaging techniques of cells or molecular events during influence of drugs, metabolism, physiology, experimental, environmental and genetics in the body.

Keywords: Proteins, MRI-PET, multimodal imaging, oligonucleotides, gene expression.