Multimodality imaging of reporter gene expression using a novel fusion vector in living cells and animals

摘要

Novel double and triple fusion reporter gene constructs harboring distinct imagable reporter genes are provided, as well as applications for the use of such double and triple fusion constructs in living cells and in living animals using distinct imaging technologies.

主权项

1. A double fusion nucleic acid expression vector, comprising:
a first reporter nucleic acid sequence, a second reporter nucleic acid sequence, and a linker sequence, wherein:
(i) the first reporter nucleic acid sequence, the second reporter nucleic acid sequence, and the nucleic acid linker sequence, are operably linked to an expression control system and co-expressible as a single fusion polypeptide therefrom;(ii) the first reporter nucleic acid sequence and the second reporter nucleic acid sequence are separated from each other by the nucleic acid linker sequence;(iii) each of the first and second reporter nucleic acid sequences encodes an individual imageable reporter region of the expressed fusion polypeptide;(iv) each of the individual imageable reporter regions of the fusion polypeptide is imageable by a method selected from the group consisting of: detecting bioluminescence, detecting fluorescence, and positron emission topography, wherein no two reporter regions are imageable by the same method; and(v) the nucleic acid linker sequence encodes a polypeptide linker having an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of: SEQ ID NOs: 9 and 10.