title: Evaluation of ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide contrast agent labeling of equine cord blood and bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the efficacy and effects of labeling equine umbilical cord blood (UCB)- and bone marrow (BM)-derived multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) with an ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) contrast agent and the detection of labeled MSCs by use of MRI.
  
  
  METHODS
  UCB MSCs from placental tissues of 5 foals and BM MSCs from 5 horses.
  
  
  METHODS
  UCB and BM MSC cultures were seeded in duplicate (5,000 cells/cm(2)). One duplicate was incubated with SPIO (50 μg/mL); the other was processed identically, but without SPIO. Mesenchymal stromal cells were expanded in triplicates for 5 passages and assessed for viability and proliferative capacity, labeling efficacy, and labeled cell proportion. For MRI detection, 5 × 10(6) labeled BM MSCs from passage 1 or 2 were injected into a collagenase-induced superficial digital flexor tendon defect of an equine cadaveric forelimb from 2 horses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For passages 1, 2, and 3, labeling efficacy and cell proportion for UCB MSCs (99.6% [range, 98.8% to 99.9%], 16.6% [range, 6.5% to 36.1%], and 1.0% [range, 0.4% to 2.8%], respectively) were significantly higher than for BM MSCs (99.2% [range, 97.8% to 99.7%], 4.5% [range, 1.6% to 11.8%], and 0.2% [range, 0.1% to 0.6%], respectively). Labeling was not detectable after passage 3. Viability of MSCs was not affected, but cell doubling time increased in labeled MSCs, compared with that of unlabeled MSCs. On MRI 3-D T2*-weighted fast gradient echo sequences, decreased signal intensity was observed for BM passage 1 MSCs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Equine UCB and BM MSCs were labeled with SPIO at high efficiencies.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Clinical Studies, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada.
authors.forename: Celine A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Bourzac
authors.forename: Judith B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Koenig
authors.forename: Kaitlyn A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Link
authors.forename: Stephanie G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Nykamp
authors.forename: Thomas G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Koch
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002102:Cadaver; D003287:Contrast Media; D003911:Dextrans; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000166:cytology*; D005552:Forelimb; D006736:Horses / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000097:blood; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D010920:Placenta / Q000166:cytology; D011247:Pregnancy; D012692:Serial Passage / Q000662:veterinary
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D003911:Dextrans; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles; C097921:ferumoxtran-10