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Reporter Genes

Reporter 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.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 18, 2026

Radionuclide-fluorescence Reporter Gene Imaging to Track Tumor Progression in Rodent Tumor Models

Radionuclide-fluorescence Reporter Gene Imaging to Track Tumor Progression in Rodent Tumor Models

Published on: March 13, 2018

Comparative Analysis of Human Nucleoside Kinase-Based Reporter Systems for PET Imaging.

Jason T Lee^1,2, Hanwen Zhang², Maxim A Moroz²

¹Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, California NanoSystems Institute Rm 2151, 570 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.

Molecular Imaging and Biology

|July 10, 2016

Summary

Human nucleoside kinase reporters show varied sensitivity for in vivo imaging. The dCKep16A reporter gene demonstrated superior performance, supporting clinical translation for gene and cell therapies.

Keywords:

Deoxycytidine kinase Gene and cell therapy Human reporter gene imaging Immunotherapy L-[18F]FEAU L-[18F]FMAU Thymidine kinase [124I]FIAU [14C]FMAU [18F]FEAU

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Last Updated: Mar 18, 2026

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Automation of a Positron-emission Tomography PET Radiotracer Synthesis Protocol for Clinical Production

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Published on: October 26, 2018

Area of Science:

Molecular Imaging
Biotechnology
Oncology

Background:

Radionuclide-based reporter gene imaging is crucial for monitoring gene and cell therapies in humans.
Viral transgenes used in current systems may cause immunogenicity, necessitating human-based reporter systems.

Purpose of the Study:

To compare the sensitivity and selectivity of human nucleoside kinase reporter genes for in vivo imaging.
To evaluate novel nucleoside analogs, including L-[18F]FEAU, for their efficacy with these reporters.

Main Methods:

Human isogenic U87 cell lines expressing various human nucleoside kinase reporters (dCKDM, dCKep16A, dCK3M, TK2DM) and reference genes (dCK, HSVTK) were created.
In vitro cell uptake assays were performed using radiolabeled nucleoside analogs ([18F]FEAU, L-[18F]FEAU, [14C]FMAU, L-[18F]FMAU, [124I]FIAU).
Micro-PET/CT imaging in xenograft-bearing mice and cell viability assays were conducted.

Main Results:

The dCKep16A and dCKDM reporters showed high sensitivity and selectivity with [18F]FEAU, second only to HSVTK/[18F]FEAU.
L-[18F]FMAU exhibited the highest uptake in xenografts across all human reporter genes.
[18F]FEAU demonstrated the most selectivity among short half-life probes, while [124I]FIAU improved signal-to-background at later time points.
The dCKep16A reporter consistently outperformed other human reporters tested.

Conclusions:

Human nucleoside kinase reporter systems exhibit significant variability in in vivo imaging sensitivity and selectivity.
The dCKep16A reporter gene shows promise for clinical translation due to high signal-to-background ratios and enhanced suicide gene potential.