Quantitative Bioluminescent Imaging of Pre-Erythrocytic Malaria Parasite Infection Using Luciferase-Expressing Plasmodium yoelii
Figure 3
Luminescence correlates to Py-GFP-luc liver stage growth in vivo.
(A–C) Representative rainbow images of luminescence in livers of live mice injected i.v. with 1×105 Py-GFP-luc salivary gland sporozoites at (A) 16, (B) 24 and (C) 44 hpi. Rainbow scales are expressed in radiance (p/s/cm2/sr). (D) Quantification of total flux from mice in (A–C) (n = 5). (E) Quantification of parasite burden in the livers by qPCR of mice injected with 1×105 Py-GFP-luc salivary gland sporozoites at various time points post infection (n = 3). Ratios of P. yoelii 18S rRNA to murine GAPDH RNA were calculated and normalized to that of uninfected mice. Statistics (B, C) Student’s t test, **indicates a P value of 0.01>0.001.