Fluorescent Protein-Based Biosensors and Their Clinical Applications - Progress in Molecular Biology and Translational Science - page 341

7.4. Future tasks
In our system, the biosensor is introduced into tumor cells via transfection,
and its expression level depends on the ability of the tumor cell to synthesize
the protein. An outstanding issue, therefore, is that the success or failure of
this diagnosis is influenced by the gene introduction efficiency. From our
knowledge, different transfection efficiencies are observed in different pa-
tients, even among those whose leukemia stage or leukemic cell populations
are similar. The development of a suitable congenic method is unquestion-
ably needed, and we are looking into this issue.
Another problem is the distribution of this technology to a broad range
of clinical sites. As for the analysis, the processes have already been auto-
mated by the image-processing software MetaMorph (Universal Imaging);
most of the image acquisition processes depend on manual work with a
microscope and thus requires skilled researchers. A system through which
anyone can easily analyze samples, for example, automated image acquisi-
tion by a computer-controlled microscope, is also being developed. This
will also help to reduce the time required for the overall diagnostic pro-
cesses. Alternatively, there is a plan to build up a center to collect samples
and analyze them. In this case, because fresh samples are better for gene
transfer, it would also be necessary to overcome the problem of preserva-
tion and transportation of the samples. After overcoming these issues, we
aim to establish this technology for use in leukemia diagnostics as soon as
possible.
8. CLOSING REMARKS
In recent years, the use of fluorescent proteins has literally thrown
much light on biological research. GFP-based FRET is an epochal imaging
technology; events occurring in living cells can now be captured as a color
change. However, FRET has historically been limited to the basic research
field. The research introduced here is the first step to widen GFP's appeal to
clinicians and is a “pioneer study” for tailor-made medicines. 122 However,
we believe that, for our work to be clinically useful, it must become wide-
spread, and we will therefore make a zealous effort to distribute these tech-
niques. The advantages of this technology include not only therapeutic
improvement but also a decrease in the time required to obtain the maxi-
mum treatment effect. Moreover, given the high cost of molecular targeted
drugs, the spread of this technology to clinical sites will definitely lead to the