A System for In Vivo Imaging of Hepatic Free Fatty Acid Uptake

Alterations in hepatic free fatty acid (FFA) uptake and metabolism contribute to the development of prevalent liver disorders such as hepatosteatosis. However, detecting dynamic changes in FFA uptake by the liver in live model organisms has proven difficult. To enable noninvasive real-time imaging of FFA flux in the liver, we generated transgenic mice with liver-specific expression of luciferase and performed bioluminescence imaging with an FFA probe. Our approach enabled us to observe the changes in FFA hepatic uptake under different physiological conditions in live animals.

This entry was posted in News. Bookmark the permalink.