Open AccessBackground-suppressed tumor-targeted photoacoustic imaging using bacterial carriers
Author(s) -
Rongkang Gao,
Feng Liu,
Wenfeng Liu,
Silüe Zeng,
Jingqin Chen,
Ruru Gao,
Liang Wang,
Chihua Fang,
Song Liu,
Adam Sedgwick,
Jonathan L. Sessler,
Jun Chu,
Fei Yan,
Chengbo Liu
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2121982119
Subject(s) - photoacoustic imaging in biomedicine , chromophore , phytochrome , biophysics , chemistry , materials science , biomedical engineering , optics , nanotechnology , biology , medicine , physics , photochemistry , red light , botany
Significance Photoacoustic (PA) imaging can provide information about deep-seated biological tissues. Unfortunately, signal intensity and resolution can be limited by background signals arising from endogenous chromophores. Photochromism, the use of agents that go from colorless to colored, has been suggested to be a promising avenue to overcome this limitation. However, a viable method that allows practical applications of this so-called background-suppressed PA imaging is still lacking. Here, we report the engineering of a phytochrome-based reporter protein (mDr BphP-PCMm/F469W) that displays high photoswitching contrast. Its expression inEscherichia coli enables point-specific imaging within the tumor region over several days and permits PA monitoring of deep-seated tumor tissues via reduction of background signals.