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Updated: Mar 26, 2026
Measurement of Mitochondrial Mass and Membrane Potential in Hematopoietic Stem Cells and T-cells by Flow Cytometry
Published on: December 26, 2019
Noninvasive Monitoring of the Mitochondrial Function in Mesenchymal Stromal Cells
Federico Franchi1, Karen M Peterson1, Ramasamy Paulmurugan2
1Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, 200 First St. SW, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA.
Purpose:
Mitochondria are a gatekeeper of cell survival and mitochondrial function can be used to monitor cell stress. Here we validate a pathway-specific reporter gene to noninvasively image the mitochondrial function of stem cells.
Procedures:
We constructed a mitochondrial sensor with the firefly luciferase (Fluc) reporter gene driven by the NQO1 enzyme promoter. The sensor was introduced in stem cells and validated in vitro and in vivo, in a mouse model of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (IR).
Results:
The sensor activity showed an inverse relationship with mitochondrial function (R (2) = -0.975, p = 0.025) and showed specificity and sensitivity for mitochondrial dysfunction. In vivo, NQO1-Fluc activity was significantly higher in IR animals vs. controls, indicative of mitochondrial dysfunction, and was corroborated by ex vivo luminometry.
Conclusions:
Reporter gene imaging allows assessment of the biology of transplanted mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), providing important information that can be used to improve the phenotype and survival of transplanted stem cells.
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