ABSTRACT
One goal of molecular imaging is to advance the understanding of biology and medicine through noninvasive in vivo investigation of the cellular and molecular events mediating normal physiology and pathological processes. While some aspects of molecular imaging relate to clinical applications, a great deal of basic research is performed with cellular and animal models of disease. Genetically encoded molecular imaging reporters offer the ability to indirectly monitor protein-protein interactions, or to directly monitor the transcriptional responses occurring downstream of signal transduction cascades. Furthermore, these techniques can be used to dynamically monitor signaling events within live cells and/or live animals noninvasively. Imaging posttranscriptional events such as translational regulation, protein-protein interactions, protein processing or protein degradation is primarily obtained by fusing the reporter gene, a partial reporter fragment or an upstream transactivator to the protein of interest, thereby generating a molecular sensor that activates (or deactivates) the reporter in response to a given protein interaction or modification.
