Mehdi Mehdizadeh
Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Neurol Neurophysiol
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)-based cytotherapy has been shown to open a new avenue in the treatment of several diseases including degenerative diseases. One of the new promising sources of MSCs is the fetal umbilical cord matrix (Whartonâ??s Jelly). In vivo using Whartonâ??s Jelly-derived MSCs (WJ-MSCs) needs to noninvasively monitor the delivery of transfused or transplanted cells to the desired sites in the body. One of the best ways to reach this aim is cell labeling by superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) as a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent. To effectively label the cells with SPIONs we have to label them in vivo or using transfection agents (TAs) such as ferumoxytol-heparin-protamine (HPF). Here we describe a new bio-mimicry method to effectively in vitro labeling of MSCs with dextran-SPIONs without the need for TAs. In this protocol, cells have been incubated with SPIONs after first passaging by adding â??in vivo environmentâ? of MSCs to the culture medium. This environment isolated from fresh umbilical cord includes non-adherent cells and supernatant and helps to recover the native properties of MSCs that is being lost in vitro cultivation. Our results show that by retaining the native phagocytic activity of MSCs, they can effectively be labeled and there was no need for the use of TAs. The labeled-MSCs prepared by this method can be used for cell tracking by MRI in the treatment of degenerative diseases.
E-mail: mehdizadeh.m@iums.ac.ir
