title: Dual-modular molecular imaging to trace transplanted bone mesenchymal stromal cells in an acute myocardial infarction model.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of the study was to investigate the feasibility of in vitro and in vivo bioluminescence imaging (BLI), fluorescence imaging (FI) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to trace transplanted bone mesenchymal stromal cells (BMSCs) labeled with the firefly luciferase (Fluc) reporter gene, CyI dyes and ultra-small super-paramagnetic iron oxide (USPIO) particles.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fluc-transfected BMSCs were further labeled with CyI dyes and USPIO particles, respectively. Acute myocardial infarction models of different weighted Sprague-Dawley rats and Balb/c mice were established, and BLI and FI were performed in vivo and ex vivo to determine the optimal method of optical imaging. Finally, BLI and MRI were selected to trace transplanted BMSCs in a murine model in vivo.
  
  
  RESULTS
  BLI was found to be the optimal optical imaging method in vivo, compared with FI, and mice were found to be the optimal animal model, compared with rats. A significant BLI signal intensity was detected in the heart region in the BMSC-treated mice group (40,552 ± 6073 counts, n = 26) and gradually decreased below the detection threshold. Two distinct hypo-intense regions were observed in the anterior wall of the heart, where stem cells were injected on MR images obtained with the gradient recalled echo cine sequence in the BMSC-treated mice group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Transplanted BMSCs labeled with Fluc reporter gene and USPIO particles can be traced with the use of BLI and MRI in a mouse model of acute myocardial infarction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, PUMC Hospital, CAMS and PUMC, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, PUMC Hospital, CAMS and PUMC, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, PUMC Hospital, CAMS and PUMC, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, PUMC Hospital, CAMS and PUMC, Beijing, China. Electronic address: wangyining@pumch.cn.
authors.forename: Yining
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, PUMC Hospital, CAMS and PUMC, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, PUMC Hospital, CAMS and PUMC, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Dachun
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Institute of Laboratory Animal Sciences, CAMS and PUMC, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, PUMC Hospital, CAMS and PUMC, Beijing, China. Electronic address: jin_zhengyu@163.com.
authors.forename: Zhengyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D058948:Cell Tracking / Q000379:methods*; D004396:Coloring Agents; D003911:Dextrans; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D049409:Luciferases, Firefly; D008163:Luminescent Measurements / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles; D008297:Male; D045164:Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D061848:Optical Imaging / Q000379:methods; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D004396:Coloring Agents; D003911:Dextrans; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles; C097921:ferumoxtran-10; D049409:Luciferases, Firefly
keywords: bioluminescence imaging; bone mesenchymal stromal cells; firefly luciferase; magnetic resonance imaging; ultra-small super-paramagnetic iron oxide