Gadonanotubes as magnetic nanolabels for stem cell detection.
Stem cell-based therapies have emerged as a promising approach in regenerative medicine. In the development of such therapies, the demand for imaging technologies that permit the noninvasive monitoring of transplanted stem cells in vivo is growing. Here, we report the performance of gadolinium-containing carbon nanocapsules, or gadonanotubes (GNTs), as a new T₁-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) intracellular labeling agent for pig bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Without the use of a transfection agent, micromolar concentrations of GNTs can deliver up to 10⁹ Gd(3+) ions per cell without compromising cell viability, differentiation potential, proliferation pattern, and phenotype. Imaging 10 × 10⁶ GNT-labeled MSCs demonstrates a nearly two-fold reduction in T₁ relaxation time when compared to unlabeled MSCs at 1.5 T in a clinical MRI scanner, which easily permits the discrimination of GNT-labeled MSCs in a T₁-weighted MR image. It is anticipated that GNTs will allow in vivo tracking of GNT-labeled MSCs, as well as other mammalian cell types, by T₁-weighted imaging with greater efficacy than other current technologies now allow.
Department of Chemistry, Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, MS-60, P.O. Box 1892, Rice University, Houston, TX 77251-1892, USA.
Lesa A
LA
Tran
Ramkumar
R
Krishnamurthy
Raja
R
Muthupillai
Maria da Graça
Mda G
Cabreira-Hansen
James T
JT
Willerson
Emerson C
EC
Perin
Lon J
LJ
Wilson
D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000187:drug effects; D003114:Colony-Forming Units Assay; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005682:Gadolinium / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008280:Magnetics; D008297:Male; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D043942:Nanotubes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013194:Staining and Labeling / Q000379:methods*; D034421:Sus scrofa; D013997:Time Factors
D005682:Gadolinium