Figure 5.

USPIO labeling and MRI tracking in vivo (A) Prussian blue staining for iron content and labeling efficiency. a): USPIO-labeled myoblast induction of ADSCs sheets, b): USPIO-labeled oral fibroblast cell sheets, c): USPIO-labeled oral mucosal epithelial cell sheets, d): the initial establishment of the USPIO-labeled constructs, e): subcutaneous transplantation for 3 weeks, f): USPIO-labeled bionic urethra transplantation in group 1. Scale bar: 100μm. (B) After 3 months of urethral replacement, MRI detection of the transplanted tissue-engineered bionic urethra in vivo. The urethra wall was detected on T2-weighted images, the MRI signal intensity of unlabeled bionic urethra (group 2) was similar to normal urethra, presenting as gray-white distribution. However, because of the existence of USPIO, the urethra wall of USPIO-labeled bionic urethra (group 1) was behaved for low signal intensity and black signal area, arrowheads toward the wall of urethra. Scale bar: 1.0 cm.