Combining perfluorocarbon and superparamagnetic iron-oxide cell labeling for improved and expanded applications of cellular MRI.
OBJECTIVE
The ability to detect the migration of cells in living organisms is fundamental in understanding biological processes and important for the development of novel cell-based therapies to treat disease. MRI can be used to detect the migration of cells labeled with superparamagnetic iron-oxide (SPIO) or perfluorocarbon (PFC) agents. In this study, we explored combining these two cell-labeling approaches to overcome current limitations and enable new applications for cellular MRI.


METHODS
We characterized (19)F-NMR relaxation properties of PFC-labeled cells in the presence of SPIO and imaged cells both ex vivo and in vivo in a rodent inflammation model to demonstrate selective visualization of cell populations.


RESULTS
We show that with UTE3D, RARE, and FLASH (19) F images one can uniquely identify PFC-labeled cells, colocalized PFC- and SPIO-labeled cells, and PFC/SPIO-colabeled cells.


CONCLUSIONS
This new methodology has the ability to improve and expand applications of MRI cell tracking. Combining PFC and SPIO strategies can potentially provide a method to quench PFC signal transferred from dead cells to macrophages, thereby eliminating false positives. In addition, combining these techniques could also be used to track two cell types simultaneously and probe cell-cell proximity in vivo with MRI.
Pittsburgh NMR Center for Biomedical Research, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
T Kevin
TK
Hitchens
Pittsburgh NMR Center for Biomedical Research, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Li
L
Liu
Pittsburgh NMR Center for Biomedical Research, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Lesley M
LM
Foley
Pittsburgh NMR Center for Biomedical Research, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.|Department of Biological Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Virgil
V
Simplaceanu
Pittsburgh NMR Center for Biomedical Research, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.|Department of Biological Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.|Department of Radiology, University of California at San Diego, San Diego, CA, 92093, USA.
Eric T
ET
Ahrens
Pittsburgh NMR Center for Biomedical Research, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.|Department of Biological Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Chien
C
Ho
D000818:Animals; D058948:Cell Tracking / Q000379:methods*; D003287:Contrast Media; D003911:Dextrans; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005466:Fluorocarbons; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007249:Inflammation / Q000473:pathology; D008264:Macrophages / Q000473:pathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013194:Staining and Labeling / Q000379:methods
D003287:Contrast Media; D003911:Dextrans; D005466:Fluorocarbons; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles; C097921:ferumoxtran-10
MRI; cell tracking; perfluorocarbon; superparamagnetic iron-oxide