http://www.theheart.org/article/1424215.do?utm_medium=email&utm_source=20120712_EN_Heartwire&utm_campaign=newsletter
Researchers from the University of Edinburgh have successfully labeled cells with tiny iron particles, enabling them to be tracked in the body with an MRI scan, an accomplishment that should aid stem-cell research for heart disease [1].
The research is reported in a paper published online July 10, 2012 in Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging.
Senior author Dr David Newby (Edinburgh University, Scotland) explained to heartwire
that one of the major stumbling blocks in stem-cell research has been
the inability to monitor where the cells end up after being injected
into the body. "We don't know if the stem cells get taken up by the
target tissue and behave like that tissue as desired or if they are
distributed around the body. This is a major issue for the whole field
of stem-cell research."
He noted that cells can be labeled with a
radioactive tracer, but this is not ideal as it introduces radioactivity
into the body and the tracer decays quite quickly, lasting only a
couple of hours.
Newby and colleagues came up with the solution
of introducing iron microparticles about 50 nm in diameter into cells
and then tracking them inside the body with an MRI scan. "We can see
where the cells are for weeks, even months, after injection. I envisage
that these particles will be an important part of the tool kit for
stem-cell-therapy research," Newby told heartwire.
In the initial studies reported, the
researchers showed that injecting immune cells with dextran-coated
superparamagnetic particles of iron oxide (SPIO) was safe and did not
interfere with cell function. In small-scale tests in humans, they found
that labeled cells were traceable as many as seven days later and had
no negative effects. In a healthy volunteer model, cutaneous
inflammation was induced in the thigh by intradermal injection of
tuberculin, and labeled cells given by IV injection were shown to travel
to the inflamed skin and were detectable on MRI scanning.
The authors note that this is the first report
of successful magnetic-resonance cell tracking in humans following
systemic administration of cells, adding that the cells can be imaged at
clinical MRI field strengths. "This technique therefore has the
potential to track the distribution, time course, and fate of cells
administered systemically as part of cell therapy: a critical component
of the development of cellular therapeutic strategies and ultimately of
monitoring the success of treatment," they conclude.
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