Nanoparticles for cell labeling

Abstract

Cell based therapeutics are emerging as powerful regimens. To better understand the migration and proliferation mechanisms of implanted cells, a means to track cells in living subjects is essential, and to achieve that, a number of cell labeling techniques have been developed. Nanoparticles, with their superior physical properties, have become the materials of choice in many investigations along this line. Owing to inherent magnetic, optical or acoustic attributes, these nanoparticles can be detected by corresponding imaging modalities in living subjects at a high spatial and temporal resolution. These features allow implanted cells to be separated from host cells; and have advantages over traditional histological methods, as they permit non-invasive, real-time tracking in vivo. This review attempts to give a summary of progress in using nanotechnology to monitor cell trafficking. We will focus on direct cell labeling techniques, in which cells ingest nanoparticles that bear traceable signals, such as iron oxide or quantum dots. Ferritin and MagA reporter genes that can package endogenous iron or iron supplement into iron oxide nanoparticles will also be discussed.

The effect of nanoparticle degradation on poly(methacrylic acid)-coated quantum dot toxicity: The importance of particle functionality assessment in toxicology

“…QDots are small semiconductor NPs that possess several exciting features such as high photostability, narrow and tunable emission spectra and high brightness [17]. Owing to these properties, QDots have shown great potential for many biomedical applications, including cell labeling applications [18][19][20][21], long-term tracking of (single) molecules [22], in vivo imaging [23,24] and photodynamic therapy [25,26]. However, despite their excellent photophysical properties, their toxicity, in particular due to the release of Cd 2+ ions [27,28], remains an issue of debate [29,30].…”

Synthesis and Characterization of Gold Nanoparticles with Plasmon Absorbance Wavelength Tunable from Visible to Near Infrared Region

“…Nanoparticles provide unique physical and optical properties to serve as building blocks for a wide-ranging applications in nanoelectronics, nanophotonics, nanodevices, and nanomedicine [1][2][3][4][5]. Particularly, nanoscale gold exhibits properties which are fundamentally different from other nanoparticles [6][7][8].…”

Mesenchymal stem cell tracking in the intervertebral disc

“…Multiple imaging modalities have been utilized, including MRI [54][55][56][57][58] , positron emission tomography (PET) [59][60][61][62] , single photon emission computed tomography [63] , bioluminescence imaging [64,65] , fluorescence imaging [66][67][68][69][70][71][72] and computed tomography (CT) [73] . MRI has been accepted as the best modality given its high spatial resolution (< 100 microns), prolonged effective imaging window, lack of ionizing radiation and ability to provide detailed anatomical information [74,75] .…”