Bioluminescence in vivo imaging of autoimmune encephalomyelitis predicts disease

Table 1 Correlation between bioluminescence and disease progression (day 1–35).

	Bioluminescence (fold induction)
	Brain		Spinal cord
	R	P	R	P
Clinical score	0.715	< 0.0001	0.868	< 0.0001
Weight loss	0.701	0.0001	0.813	< 0.0001
Astrogliosis (GFAP)	0.801	< 0.0001	0.858	< 0.0001
Microgliosis (CD68)	0.844	< 0.0001	0.828	< 0.0001
T cell infiltration (CD4)	0.831	< 0.0001	0.855	< 0.0001

GFAP-luc mice were immunized with MOG_35–55 emulsified in CFA plus pertussis toxin. Mice were evaluated for clinical signs and sacrificed at 3- to 7-day interval (n = 3–8 mice at each time point; n = 23 mice in total). Bioluminescence was recorded in living mice after immunization and expressed as fold induction over baseline measured 1 day before immunization. Neuroinflammation was measured by immunolabeling for GFAP (astrogliosis), CD68 (microgliosis) and CD4 (T cell infiltration). These markers were quantified separately in brain (cerebellum) and spinal cord using Metamorph image analysis software. The correlation between these markers and corresponding bioluminescence was assessed by Pearson correlation analyses. R: correlation coefficient.

ISSN: 1742-2094