Figure 2.

Comparison of imaging techniques for transplanted therapeutic stem cells following preclinical middle cerebral artery occlusion. (A) Monitoring of Gadolinium (Gd)-labelled mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in rat brain using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). White patch (arrows) shows migration of human MSCs toward the peri-infarct cortical area over 14 days.⁴⁶ (B) Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle (SPIO)-labelled MSCs (area of hypointensity) viewed using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), 1 hour to 4 weeks after transplantation into beagles.¹¹⁵ (C) Indium (¹¹¹In)-oxine-labelled umbilical tissue-derived cells can be seen accumulating in the ipsilateral cortex (IPL. CNL=contralateral) 1 to 3 days after transplantation using single photo emission computed tomography (SPECT).⁷⁶ (D) 9-(4-[¹⁸F]fluoro-3 hydroxymethylbutyl) guanine ([¹⁸F]FHBG)-labelled embryonic stem cell-derived neural stem cells (NSCs) viewed through positron emission tomography (PET) can be seen localizing in the striatal region of the forebrain.¹⁰⁷ (E) Luciferase photon emission detected through bioluminescence imaging (BLI) 21 days after transplanting of neural progenitor cells (NPCs).⁸⁸