A cell-penetrating protein designed for bimodal fluorescence and magnetic resonance imaging. Issue 11 (20th August 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wu, Qin; Cheng, Qinqin; Yuan, Siming; Qian, Junchao; Zhong, Kai; Qian, Yinfeng; Liu, Yangzhong
• Is Part Of: Chemical science. Volume 6:Issue 11(2015:Nov.)
• Page Start: 6607
• Page End: 6613
• Publication Date: 2015-08-20
• Subjects: Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540.5
• DOI: 10.1039/c5sc01925g
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2041-6520

Abstract

Abstract : A protein-based fluorescence and magnetic resonance bimodal imaging probe was explored in vitro, in cells and in mice. Abstract : Multimodal imaging is a highly desirable biomedical application since it can provide complementary information from each imaging modality. We propose a protein engineering-based strategy for the construction of a bimodal probe for fluorescence and magnetic resonance imaging. A recombinant protein was generated by the fusion of a supercharged green fluorescence protein (GFP 36+ ) with a lanthanide-binding tag (dLBT) that can stably bind two Gd 3+ ions. The GFP 36+ –dLBT fusion protein showed strong fluorescence and exhibited efficient contrast enhancement in magnetic resonance imaging. This protein probe improves the MR relaxation more efficiently than Gd-DTPA (gadopentetate dimeglumine). The superior cell-penetrating activity of GFP 36+ allows the efficient cellular uptake of this fusion protein and it can thus be used as a cellular imaging probe. Dual imaging was conducted in vitro and in mice. This result indicates that the fusion of different functional domains is a feasible approach for making multi-modal imaging agents.