Labeling stem cells with a near-infrared fluorescent heptamethine dye for noninvasive optical tracking.
Near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent agents hold great promise for noninvasive in vivo imaging. We have recently reported that a NIR fluorescent heptamethine dye, IR-780 iodide, exhibits unique optical properties for biomedical imaging. On the basis of this foregoing work, we further describe here the potential application of IR-780 iodide as a novel NIR agent for stem cell labeling and tracking. The labeling efficiency, subcellular localization, and the effects on cell viability and differentiation of IR-780 iodide were investigated. The in vivo distribution of stem cells after intravenous transplantation was traced by whole-body animal NIR imaging. Our results showed that IR-780 iodide exhibited superior labeling efficiency and biocompatibility with unique optical properties. Following whole-body NIR imaging, the pulmonary passage of stem cells was noninvasively visualized in rats after systemic transplantation of IR-780 iodide-labeled stem cells through intravenous delivery. With this NIR imaging method, we further confirmed that pretreatment with sodium nitroprusside (SNP), a vasodilator agent, significantly reduced the cell trapping in the lung and increased the cell passage through the lung capillaries. Our study suggests that IR-780 iodide may represent an effective NIR fluorophore for stem cell labeling and tracking.
Institute of Combined Injury, State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burns and Combined Injury, Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Nanomedicine, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University, China.
Chao
C
Zhang
Xu
X
Tan
Li
L
Tan
Tao
T
Liu
Dengqun
D
Liu
Lilong
L
Zhang
Song
S
Fan
Yongping
Y
Su
Tianmin
T
Cheng
Yue
Y
Zhou
Chunmeng
C
Shi
D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002470:Cell Survival; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry*; D007211:Indoles / Q000737:chemistry*; D009599:Nitroprusside / Q000737:chemistry; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology*; D051598:Whole Body Imaging
C548458:2-(2-(2-chloro-3-((1,3-dihydro-3,3-dimethyl-1-propyl-2H-indol-2-ylidene)ethylidene)-1-cyclohexen-1-yl)ethenyl)-3,3-dimethyl-1-propylindolium; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D007211:Indoles; D009599:Nitroprusside