[Hplusroadmap] Fwd: [Synthetic Biology] Gene that magnetically labels cells shows potential as imaging tool

[Bryan Bishop]

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Subject: [Synthetic Biology] Gene that magnetically labels cells shows 
potential as imaging tool
Date: Saturday 07 June 2008
From: Talli Somekh <talli at museatech.net>
To: discuss at syntheticbiology.org

seems like an interesting part...

talli

http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2008/06/03/gene_that_magnetically_labels_cells_shows_potential_as_imaging_tool.html

Gene that magnetically labels cells shows potential as imaging tool
June 3, 2008 07:05 PM Molecular & Cell Biology

Mammalian cells can produce tiny magnetic nuggets after the  
introduction of a single gene from bacteria, scientists have found.  
The gene MagA could become a valuable tool for tracking cells'  
movement through the body via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), says  
Xiaoping Hu, PhD, professor of biomedical engineering at Emory  
University and the Georgia Institute of Technology.

"We have found a very simple way to make mammalian cells have a  
magnetic signature," says Hu, who is director of Emory's Biomedical  
Imaging Technology Center and a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent  
Scholar.

The results are published in the June issue of Magnetic Resonance in  
Medicine.

The gene MagA comes from magnetotactic bacteria, which can sense the  
Earth's magnetic field. It encodes a protein that transports dissolved  
iron across cell membranes. When put into animal cells, MagA triggers  
the accumulation of lumps of magnetite (iron oxide) a few nanometers  
wide, making the cells prominently visible under magnetic resonance  
imaging.

Although Hu's team tested MagA's effects in human kidney cells, Hu  
says it will probably be most useful in transgenic animals. He and his  
colleagues found that MagA appears to be nontoxic.

"MagA can be thought of as the equivalent of green fluorescent  
protein, but for magnetic resonance imaging," he says.

Scientists around the world use green fluorescent protein, originally  
found in jellyfish, to map the connections of the nervous system or  
follow the migration of stem cells around the body, for example. Hu  
says he anticipates that MagA could find similar applications, with  
the advantage that magnetic fields can penetrate tissues more easily  
than light.
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