title: In Vivo Bioluminescence Imaging - A Suitable Method to Track Mesenchymal Stromal Cells in a Skeletal Muscle Trauma.
abstract: Cell-based therapies have emerged during the last decade in various clinical fields. Especially mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have been used in pre-clinical and clinical applications in cardiovascular, neurodegenerative and musculoskeletal disorders. In order to validate survival and viability as well as possible engraftment of MSCs into the host tissue a live cell imaging technique is needed that allows non-invasive, temporal imaging of cellular kinetics as well as evaluation of cell viability after transplantation. In this study we used luciferase-based bioluminescence imaging (BLI) to investigate the survival of autologous MSCs transplanted into a severely crushed soleus muscle of the rats. Furthermore we compared local as well as intra-arterial (i.a.) administration of cells and analyzed if luciferase transduced MSCs depict the same characteristics in vitro as non-transduced MSCs. We could show that transduction of MSCs does not alter their in vitro characteristics, thus, transduced MSCs display the same differentiation, proliferation and migration capacity as non-transduced cells. Using BLI we could track MSCs transplanted into a crushed soleus muscle until day 7 irrespective of local or i.a.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Hence, our study proves that luciferase-based BLI is a suitable method for in vivo tracking of MSCs in skeletal muscle trauma in rats.
authors: Julius Wolff Institute and Berlin-Brandenburg School for Regenerative Therapies, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin, Germany.
authors: Strohschein
authors: S
authors: K
authors: Julius Wolff Institute and Berlin-Brandenburg School for Regenerative Therapies, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin, Germany.
authors: Radojewski
authors: R
authors: P
authors: Department of Orthopaedics, Trauma and Reconstruction Surgery, Center for Musculoskeletal Surgery, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin, Germany.
authors: Winkler
authors: W
authors: T
authors: Julius Wolff Institute and Berlin-Brandenburg School for Regenerative Therapies, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin, Germany.
authors: Duda
authors: D
authors: G N
authors: Department of Orthopaedics, Trauma and Reconstruction Surgery, Center for Musculoskeletal Surgery, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin, Germany.
authors: Perka
authors: P
authors: C
authors: Department of Orthopaedics, Trauma and Reconstruction Surgery, Center for Musculoskeletal Surgery, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin, Germany.
authors: von Roth
authors: vR
authors: P
keywords: Bioluminescence imaging; cell-based therapy; crush trauma; luciferase; mesenchymal stromal cells; skeletal muscle