Premium
Tracking of Transplanted Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Living Mice using Near‐Infrared Ag 2 S Quantum Dots
Author(s) -
Chen Guangcun,
Tian Fei,
Zhang Yan,
Zhang Yejun,
Li Chunyan,
Wang Qiangbin
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
advanced functional materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.069
H-Index - 322
eISSN - 1616-3028
pISSN - 1616-301X
DOI - 10.1002/adfm.201303263
Subject(s) - mesenchymal stem cell , stem cell , in vivo , materials science , regenerative medicine , regeneration (biology) , preclinical imaging , biomedical engineering , microbiology and biotechnology , biophysics , cancer research , biology , nanotechnology , medicine
Stem cell therapeutics has emerged as a novel regenerative therapy for tissue repair in the last decade. However, dynamically tracking the transplanted stem cells in vivo remains a grand challenge for stem cell‐based regeneration medicine in full understanding the function and the fate of the stem cells. Herein, Ag 2 S quantum dots (QDs) in the second near‐infrared window (NIR‐II, 1.0–1.4 μm) are employed for dynamically tracking of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) in vivo with high sensitivity and high spatial and temporal resolution. As few as 1000 Ag 2 S QDs‐labeled hMSCs are detectable in vivo and their fluorescence intensity can maintain up to 30 days. The in situ translocation and dynamic distribution of transplanted hMSCs in the lung and liver can be monitored up to 14 days with a temporal resolution of 100 ms. The in vivo high‐resolution imaging indicates the heparin‐facilitated translocation of hMSCs from lung to liver as well as the long‐term retention of hMSCs in the liver contribute to the treatment of liver failure. The novel NIR‐II imaging offers a possibility of tracking stem cells in living animals with both high spatial and temporal resolution, and encourages the future clinical applications in imaging‐guided cell therapies.