In vivo neural stem cell imaging: current modalities and future directions

Neural stem cells have been proposed as a promising therapy for treating a wide variety of neuropathologies. While several studies have demonstrated the therapeutic benefits of neural stem cells, the exact mechanism remains elusive. In order to facilitate research efforts to understand these mechanisms, and before neural stem cell-based therapies can be utilized in a clinical context, we must develop means of monitoring these cells in vivo. However, because of tissue depth and the blood-brain barrier, in vivo imaging of neural stem cells in the brain has unique challenges that do not apply to stem cells for other purposes. In this paper, we review contemporary methods for in vivo neural stem cell imaging, including MRI, PET and optical imaging techniques.