title: Polymeric Nanovehicle Regulated Spatiotemporal Real-Time Imaging of the Differentiation Dynamics of Transplanted Neural Stem Cells after Traumatic Brain Injury.
abstract: Recent advances in neural stem cell (NSC) transplantation have led to an inspiring progress in alleviating central nervous system (CNS) damages and restoring brain functions from diseases or injuries. One challenge of NSC transplantation is directed differentiation of transplanted NSCs into desired neuronal subtypes, such as neurons, to compensate the adverse impact of brain injury; another challenge lies in the lack of tools to noninvasively monitor the dynamics of NSC differentiation after transplantation in vivo. In this study, we developed a polymer nanovehicle for morphogen sustained release to overcome the drawbacks of conventional methods to realize the long-term directed NSC differentiation in vivo. Moreover, we constructed a bicistronic vector with a unique neuron specific gene tubb3 promoter to drive reporter gene expression for real-time imaging of NSC differentiation and migration. The developed uniform nanovehicle showed efficient NSC uptake and achieved a controlled release of morphogen in cytosol to consistently stimulate NSC differentiation into neurons at a sustainably effective concentration. The spatiotemporal imaging results showed a multiplexed migration, proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis orchestra of transplanted NSCs regulated by nanovehicles in TBI mice. The imaging results also uncovered the peak time of NSC differentiation in vivo. Although we observed only a handful of NSCs ultimately migrated to the TBI area and differentiated into neurons, those neurons were functional, ameliorating the detrimental impact of TBI. The imaging findings enabled by the nanovehicle and the neuron specific bicistronic vector provide additional understanding of the in vivo behaviors of transplanted NSCs in neuronal regenerative medicine.
authors.affiliation: †Laboratory of Molecular Imaging and Nanomedicine, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States.
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: †Laboratory of Molecular Imaging and Nanomedicine, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: ‡Oral and Pharyngeal Cancer Branch, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States.
authors.forename: Zhiyong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: §Unit on Synapse Development and Plasticity, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: ‡Oral and Pharyngeal Cancer Branch, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States.
authors.forename: J Silvio
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Gutkind
authors.affiliation: †Laboratory of Molecular Imaging and Nanomedicine, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States.
authors.forename: Avinash
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Srivatsan
authors.affiliation: ∥Laboratory of Cellular Imaging and Macromolecular Biophysics, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States.
authors.forename: Guofeng
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: †Laboratory of Molecular Imaging and Nanomedicine, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States.|∥Laboratory of Cellular Imaging and Macromolecular Biophysics, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States.
authors.forename: Hsien-Shun
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: †Laboratory of Molecular Imaging and Nanomedicine, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States.|∥Laboratory of Cellular Imaging and Macromolecular Biophysics, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States.
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: ∥Laboratory of Cellular Imaging and Macromolecular Biophysics, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States.
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: †Laboratory of Molecular Imaging and Nanomedicine, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States.
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.affiliation: †Laboratory of Molecular Imaging and Nanomedicine, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: †Laboratory of Molecular Imaging and Nanomedicine, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States.
authors.forename: Xiaoyuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000473:pathology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D051379:Mice; D057054:Molecular Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D058953:Neural Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000637:transplantation*; D055495:Neurogenesis; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers
keywords: differentiation; imaging; nanoparticles; stem cells; traumatic brain injury