Strategies for In Vivo Imaging Using Fluorescent Proteins

Fluorescent proteins have enabled the color-coding of cells growing in vivo. Noninvasive imaging of cells expressing fluorescent proteins has allowed the real-time determination of the behavior of cancer cells, the progression of infection, the differentiation of stem cells, and interaction of stromal and cancer cells. Cancer cells labeled in the nucleus and cytoplasm with spectrally-distinct proteins can visualize in vivo nuclear-cytoplasmic dynamics in vivo including: mitosis, apoptosis, cell-cycle phase, and differential behavior of nucleus and cytoplasm that occurs during cancer-cell deformation. Linking spectrally-distinct fluorescent proteins with cell-cycle-specific proteins results in color-coding the phases of the cell cycle. With the use of fluorescent proteins, literally any cellular or molecular function can be imaged in vivo. (C) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.