Scientists from the UK and Australia have created a mouse that expresses a fluorescing biosensor which mimics the action of a target molecule, in this case a protein known as 'Rac', which drives cell movement in many types of cancer.
This is the first time a mouse has been genetically modified successfully to express the molecule throughout the body without affecting cell function.
The mouse can be used to study any cancer type by crossing it with other models, limiting expression of a specific cell or tissue type.
The mouse can also easily be adapted to study diseases other than cancer by expressing the biosensor in different disease models.
Rac behaves like a switch, oscillating on the molecular level between two states — active or inactive. When Rac is active, the biosensor picks up chemical cues and glows blue. When Rac is inactive the biosensor glows yellow.
Using sophisticated imaging techniques, it is possible to follow Rac activation in any organ at any time, or watch moment-by-moment oscillation of Rac activity at the front or back of cells as they move in the body.
This technology has been used to monitor Rac activity in many organs in response to drug treatment.
Scientists said it allowed them to watch and map, in real time, parts of a cell or organ where Rac is active and driving invasion. In cancers, a lot of blue indicates an aggressive tumour that is in the process of spreading.
You can literally watch parts of a tumour turn from blue to yellow as a drug hits its target.
This can be an hour or more after the drug is administered, and the effect can wane quickly or slowly.
Drug companies need to know these details — specifically how much, how often and how long to administer drugs.
Dr Paul Timpson who began the study with colleagues from the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research in Glasgow and completed it at Sydney's Garvan Institute of Medical Research collaborated closely throughout the process with Dr Heidi Welch from the Babraham Institute in Cambridge — the creator of the mouse — who uses it to study the movement of immune cells, known as neutrophils.
"The great thing about this mouse is its flexibility and potential for looking at a broad range of diseases and molecular targets," said Dr Paul Timpson.
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