Ferritin–EGFP Chimera as an Endogenous Dual-Reporter for Both Fluorescence and Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Human Glioma U251 Cells

A unique hybrid protein ferritin-enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) was built to serve as an endogenous dual reporter for both fluorescence and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). It consists of a human ferritin heavy chain (an iron-storage protein) at the N terminus, a flexible polypeptide in the middle as a linker, and an EGFP at the C terminus. Through antibiotic screening, we established stable human glioma U251 cell strains that …