Magnetic resonance imaging and tracking of stem cells
Hossein Nejadnik1, Rostislav Castillo, Heike E Daldrup-Link
1Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS), Department of Radiology, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford University, 265 Campus Drive, Room G2045, Lokey Stem Cell Research Building, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. Hossein_Nejadnik@stanford.edu
Abstract:
To date, several stem cell labeling protocols have been developed, contributing to a fast growing and promising field of stem cell imaging by MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). Most of these methods utilize iron oxide nanoparticles (MION, SPIO, USPIO, VSIOP) for cell labeling, which provide negative (dark) signal effects on T2-weighted MR images. The following protocol describes stem cell labeling techniques with commercially available gadolinium chelates, which provide positive contrast on T1-weighted MR images, which can be advantageous for specific applications.
