Natural polymeric nanoparticles as a non-invasive probe for mesenchymal stem cell labelling

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Non-invasive stem cell tracking is crucial for advancing cell therapy and tissue engineering.
• Current methods for stem cell visualization face limitations in efficiency and biocompatibility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel, biodegradable nanoparticle probe for efficient stem cell tracking using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
• To characterize the synthesized nanoprobe and evaluate its performance as a T1-weighted MRI contrast agent.

Main Methods:

• Chitosan-alginate nanoparticles were synthesized and loaded with Gadolinium (Gd3+).
• Nanoprobe characterization involved Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), and Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR).
• Gadolinium concentration was measured using ICP analysis, and relaxivity (r1) was determined in phantoms and stem cells.

Main Results:

• Spherical, non-aggregated nanoprobes with an average size of 80 nm were successfully synthesized.
• The synthesized nanoprobe exhibited significantly higher relaxivity (r1) compared to clinical Dotarem®, both in phantom (12.8 mM⁻¹s⁻¹ vs. 3.6 mM⁻¹s⁻¹) and within stem cells (3.56 mM⁻¹s⁻¹ vs. 1.65 mM⁻¹s⁻¹).
• Enhanced signal detection was observed in in-vivo imaging studies.

Conclusions:

• Chitosan-alginate nanoparticles serve as an effective and biocompatible carrier for Gd3+ labeling of stem cells.
• The developed nanoprobe offers superior MRI contrast enhancement for stem cell tracking.
• This novel probe holds significant potential for applications in cell therapy and tissue engineering.