Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 9, 2025
Optical Screening of Novel Bacteria-specific Probes on Ex Vivo Human Lung Tissue by Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy
Published on: November 29, 2017
Molecular detection of Gram-positive bacteria in the human lung through an optical fiber-based endoscope
Bethany Mills1, Alicia Megia-Fernandez2, Dominic Norberg3
1Centre for Inflammation Research, Queen's Medical Research Institute, University of Edinburgh, 47 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh, EH16 4TJ, UK. beth.mills@ed.ac.uk.
Purpose:
The relentless rise in antimicrobial resistance is a major societal challenge and requires, as part of its solution, a better understanding of bacterial colonization and infection. To facilitate this, we developed a highly efficient no-wash red optical molecular imaging agent that enables the rapid, selective, and specific visualization of Gram-positive bacteria through a bespoke optical fiber-based delivery/imaging endoscopic device.
Methods:
We rationally designed a no-wash, red, Gram-positive-specific molecular imaging agent (Merocy-Van) based on vancomycin and an environmental merocyanine dye. We demonstrated the specificity and utility of the imaging agent in escalating in vitro and ex vivo whole human lung models (n = 3), utilizing a bespoke fiber-based delivery and imaging device, coupled to a wide-field, two-color endomicroscopy system.
Results:
The imaging agent (Merocy-Van) was specific to Gram-positive bacteria and enabled no-wash imaging of S. aureus within the alveolar space of whole ex vivo human lungs within 60 s of delivery into the field-of-view, using the novel imaging/delivery endomicroscopy device.
Conclusion:
This platform enables the rapid and specific detection of Gram-positive bacteria in the human lung.
