European journal of cancer : official journal for European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) [and] European Association for Cancer Research (EACR)
-
Whole body optical imaging using bioluminescence or fluorescence is one of the most rapidly emerging technologies to non-invasively follow all kinds of molecular and cellular processes in small animals. Using tomographic approaches it is now also possible to get better quantitative data. Due to its sensitivity and simplicity it is now also widely used in drug development and drug screening. ⋯ Whole body fluorescent imaging (FLI) and bioluminescent imaging (BLI) are now applied to study cell- and tissue-specific gene promoter activity and also to follow trafficking, differentiation and fate of i.e. GFP or RFP and/or luciferase expressing cells, or biological processes like apoptosis, protein-protein interaction, angiogenesis, proteolysis and gene-transfer. Optical imaging (OI) and optical reporter systems are also very cost-effective and time-efficient and they are particularly well suited for small animal imaging and for in vitro assays to validate different reporter systems.