Monitoring caspase-3 activation with a multimodality imaging sensor in living subjects.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Capsase-3 plays an important role in chemotherapy-induced apoptosis in many cancers. Herein, we applied a multimodality reporter vector to monitor caspase-3 activation indirectly in live cells and tumors of living animals undergoing apoptosis.

Experimental design

A fusion protein (MTF) was constructed by combining three different reporter proteins, red fluorescent protein (mRFP1), firefly luciferase (FL), and HSV1-sr39 truncated thymidine kinase (TK), linked through a caspase-3 recognizable polypeptide linker. After cleavage by caspase-3, a significant gain in mRFP1, FL, and TK activity are observed by fluorescence-activated cell sorting and enzyme-based assays. A melanoma cell line (B16F10-mtf-hrl) stably expressing mtf (to measure caspase-3 activation) and hrl-IRES

SUBMITTER: Ray P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4155946 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature