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Updated: May 31, 2026
12:48
Construction of Cell-based Neurotransmitter Fluorescent Engineered Reporters (CNiFERs) for Optical Detection of Neurotransmitters In Vivo
Published on: May 12, 2016
A PET brain reporter gene system based on type 2 cannabinoid receptors
Caroline Vandeputte1, Nele Evens, Jaan Toelen
1Division of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital and K.U. Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Summary
This study introduces a novel PET reporter system for imaging gene expression in the intact brain. The human cannabinoid receptor 2 (hCB2) reporter system successfully visualized gene expression in rats, paving the way for neuroscience research.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Molecular Imaging
- Gene Therapy
Background:
- Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging of gene expression is crucial for neuroscience research and central nervous system (CNS) disease therapies.
- Current PET reporter systems face challenges with blood-brain barrier penetration and high background signals, limiting their use in the brain.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate the first PET reporter system for imaging gene expression within the intact brain.
- To overcome limitations of existing PET tracers for CNS gene expression monitoring.
Main Methods:
- Engineered dual-modality imaging viral vectors encoding an inactive mutant of the human type 2 cannabinoid receptor (hCB2(D80N)).
- Utilized (11)C-labeled CB(2) ligand, (11)C-GW405833, a tracer that crosses the blood-brain barrier, for PET imaging.
- Locoregionally overexpressed hCB2(D80N) in rat striatum via stereotactic injection of viral vectors.
Main Results:
- PET imaging demonstrated specific and reversible binding of (11)C-GW405833 in the transduced rat striatum.
- Reporter gene expression (hCB2 and firefly luciferase) was successfully tracked for up to 9 months with similar kinetics.
- Immunohistochemistry confirmed the expression of hCB2 and enhanced green fluorescent protein.
Conclusions:
- Successfully engineered and validated a dual-modality imaging viral vector system for PET reporter gene imaging in the brain.
- The developed CB(2) reporter system shows significant potential for future clinical applications in monitoring gene or cell therapies for CNS diseases.
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02:11Reporter Genes
Reporter genes are a type of protein-coding gene that are often tagged to a gene of interest. Once inside a target cell, reporter genes usually produce visually identifiable characteristics like fluorescence and luminescence when expressed along with the gene of interest. Thus, reporter genes “report” the presence or absence of genes of interest in an organism, determine the gene expression pattern, or track the physical location of a DNA segment or protein in the cell.
Commonly used reporter...
Commonly used reporter...
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