Preparation of biogenic gas vesicle nanostructures for use as contrast agents for ultrasound and MRI.

ABSTRACT: Gas vesicles (GVs) are a unique class of gas-filled protein nanostructures that are detectable at subnanomolar concentrations and whose physical properties allow them to serve as highly sensitive imaging agents for ultrasound and MRI. Here we provide a protocol for isolating GVs from native and heterologous host organisms, functionalizing these nanostructures with moieties for targeting and fluorescence, characterizing their biophysical properties and imaging them using ultrasound and MRI. GVs can be isolated from natural cyanobacterial and haloarchaeal host organisms or from Escherichia coli expressing a heterologous GV gene cluster and purified using buoyancy-assisted techniques. They can then be modified by replacing surface-bound proteins with engineered, heterologously expressed varia

SUBMITTER: Lakshmanan A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6185898 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature