Tracking stem cells in tissue-engineered organs using magnetic nanoparticles
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Updated: May 7, 2026
Cell Labeling and Targeting with Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles
Published on: October 19, 2015
Roxanne Hachani1, Mark Lowdell, Martin Birchall
1Department of Physics & Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK. roxanne.hachani.12@ucl.ac.uk ntk.thanh@ucl.ac.uk.
Abstract:
The use of human stem cells (SCs) in tissue engineering holds promise in revolutionising the treatment of numerous diseases. There is a pressing need to comprehend the distribution, movement and role of SCs once implanted onto scaffolds. Nanotechnology has provided a platform to investigate this through the development of inorganic magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). MNPs can be used to label and track SCs by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) since this clinically available imaging modality has high spatial resolution. In this review, we highlight recent applications of iron oxide and gadolinium based MNPs in SC labelling and MRI; and offer novel considerations for their future development.
