MRI: Acquisition of an IVIS Lumina K Series III real-time in vivo-in vitro fluorescent and bioluminescent fast imaging system

University Of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville TN

Investigators

Abstract

To study and understand the complexities of a living system, it is essential that methods be available to probe biological functions directly within the living system itself. The progression of a disease and how it responds to a new pharmaceutical agent, for example, is best discerned not in a petri dish but rather inside the living being where all interactions and reactions can be investigated under the most authentic environmental variables possible. Optical bioimaging is one such method that enables researchers to peer inside of living entities. Using powerful cameras alongside genetic techniques that enable cells, tissues, and organs to emit visible light, it is now possible to noninvasively visualize biological systems in their native state. The goal of this proposal is to acquire an IVIS Lumina camera to facilitate further advances in optical imaging technologies. The camera will become a centerpiece of a bioimaging core facility that serves a diverse investigator pool across the University of Tennessee campus, Health Science Center, Veterinary College, and neighboring community colleges and non-research intensive colleges. Access to the camera will spur new investigative activities centered on addressing current and emerging research challenges across the biological, engineering, environmental, and physical sciences while emphasizing cross-disciplinary student training and educational outreach. Priority research topics include imaging applications addressing cancer therapies, implantable biosensors, faster bedside diagnostics, advanced drug delivery systems, improved animal models for the understanding of human disease, and even glowing plants capable of monitoring for harmful environmental pollutants. The shared nature of the IVIS camera will foster new multidisciplinary collaborations to further advance the optical imaging field. Dedicated teaching and hands-on training activities focused on undergraduate and high school students are also in place for the challenging pursuit of new knowledge and discoveries centered on state-of-the-art bioimaging technology. The goal of this MRI instrument acquisition proposal is to obtain an IVIS Lumina K Series III real-time in vivo-in vitro fluorescent and bioluminescent fast imaging system for shared use among a multidisciplinary cross-campus and cross-institutional investigational team. Optical imaging using proteins, dyes, and nanomaterials that emit fluorescent and/or bioluminescent light has provided a new technological toolbox for interrogating and surveying biological molecules, cells, tissues, organs, and organisms, from which new insights can be gained into the complexity, structure, and dynamics of discrete biological units and interactive biosystems. The IVIS Lumina represents a state-of-the-art technology that provides 10-fold improvements in sensitivity and speed over current existing imaging infrastructure. For researchers performing animal studies, millisecond exposure times permit real-time conscious animal imaging and promote improved animal welfare by negating the requirement for animal anesthetization. The ability to monitor conscious animals represents a transformational leap in in vivo bioimaging that significantly enriches our ability to understand and model disease states and therapeutic interventions. The investigational team assembled for this MRI proposal represents a diverse ensemble of researchers dedicated to applying optical imaging across the conventional boundaries of biological and engineering research. The imaging system will foster new collaborations and synergies focused on shared strengths in environmental biotechnology, biomicroelectronics, nanobiotechnology, organismal development and physiology, synthetic biology, biomedical diagnostics, and materials sciences.