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<div><font face="Arial" color="#000000">Seminar on<br>
<b>Modern Optics and Spectroscopy<br>
<br>
<br>
Charles Lin</b>,<br>
Massachusetts General Hospital<br>
<br>
<i><b>In vivo cell tracking<br>
<br>
</b></i>November 27, 2007<br>
<br>
12:00 - 1:00 p.m.</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial" color="#000000">Grier Room 34-401<br>
</font><font face="Times"
color="#000000"><x-tab>
</x-tab><br>
<br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">The term
"cell trafficking" describes the process by which certain
cell populations in the body move from one organ or tissue compartment
into another. For example, in an immune reaction,
antigen-presenting cells traffic from peripheral tissue to the local
lymph nodes where they encounter and activate T cells. The
latter in turn traffic to the site of injury or infection to carry out
the immune response. In cancer metastasis, malignant cells
spread from the primary tumor to distant organs by trafficking through
blood or lymphatic vessels. Uncovering the cellular mechanisms
involved in these processes is important in developing treatment
strategies that improve immune response and reduce cancer metastasis.
The ability to direct cell trafficking to the proper destination is
also crucial in new cell-based therapies such as stem cell
transplantation. Techniques that can track the cell population
of interest<i> in vivo</i> and over time will be immensely helpful in
the study of these biological processes that are inherently dynamic in
nature. We describe an integrated approach combining multiple
imaging platforms to i) track populations of cells in live animals
using whole body (bioluminescence) imaging; ii) detect and count
individual cells in the circulation using<i> in vivo</i> flow
cytometry; and iii) visualize the dynamics of single cells and their
interactions with the local microenvironment using<i> in vivo</i>
microscopy. The three modalities provide complimentary
information and can be performed in the same animal over time to
monitor disease progression and response to therapy.</font></div>
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