Endometriosis is a condition of the female reproductive tract characterized by endometrium-like tissue growing outside the uterus. Though it is a common cause of
pelvic pain and
infertility, there is currently no reliable noninvasive method to diagnose the presence of
endometriosis without surgery, and the pathophysiological mechanisms that lead to the occurrence of symptoms require further inquiry. Due to patient heterogeneity and delayed diagnosis, animal models are commonly used to study the development of
endometriosis, but these are costly due to the large number of animals needed to test various treatments and experimental conditions at multiple endpoints. Here, we describe a method for synthesis of multimodal imaging
gold-
fluorescein isothiocyanate (
FITC) nanoparticles with preclinical application via induction of nanoparticle-labeled
endometriosis-like lesions in mice. Labeling donor endometrial tissue fragments with
gold-
FITC nanoparticles prior to induction of
endometriosis in recipients enables in vivo detection of the
gold-labeled lesions with photoacoustic imaging. The same imaging method can be used to visualize embryos noninvasively in pregnant mice. Furthermore, the conjugated
FITC dye on the
gold nanoparticles allows easy isolation of labeled lesion tissue under a fluorescence dissection microscope. After dissection, the presence of
gold-
FITC nanoparticles and endometrium-like histology of lesions can be verified through fluorescence imaging,
gold enhancement, and immunostaining. This method for in vivo imaging of
endometriosis-like lesions and fluorescence-guided dissection will permit new experimental possibilities for the longitudinal study of
endometriosis development and progression as well as
endometriosis-related
infertility.