Figure 3.
In vivo imaging of M. tuberculosis infection. SCID mice were infected with 1.1 × 104 cfu of M. tuberculosis pMV306G13 + FFlucRT or with 1.0 × 104 cfu of M. tuberculosis WT via the intranasal route. (a) Mice were injected intraperitoneally with 500 mg/kg d-luciferin, and images were acquired using an IVIS® Spectrum system. *M. tuberculosis WT-infected mice; all others infected with M. tuberculosis pMV306G13 + FFlucRT. Day 1 and 6 images were very similar. Only day 1 is shown here. (b) The scale on the images shown here has been adjusted to demonstrate that a detectable signal was observed in the lungs of all five mice as early as day 13. M. tuberculosis pMV306G13 + FFlucRT-infected mice are the same mice as shown in (a). The signal in the abdomen of the mice comes from the liver due to background luminescence from the luciferin substrate. (c) Bioluminescence in the thorax was quantified for each mouse at each timepoint and compared with cfu data at corresponding timepoints. Each point on the graph represents the median and error (n = 5 mice). This result is representative of two independent experiments. Bckg, background luminescence (2 × 105 photons/s). This figure appears in colour in the online version of JAC and in black and white in the printed version of JAC.