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Abstract #1895

Endogenous stem cell tracking by MRI after local injection of contrast agent

Hoehn M, Sprenger C, Ramos-Cabrer P, Himmelreich U, Justicia C
Max Planck Institute for Neurological Research

There is a continuous production of newly endogenous progenitor cells in the brain during the adult life, restricted to the subventricular zone and the subgranular zone of the hippocampus. An important increase in cell proliferation has been described in these regions after stroke and neurodegenerative diseases. In this work we demonstrate that it is feasible to label endogenous progenitor cells with iron nanoparticles injected intraparenchymally near the subventricular zone, and to follow their natural migration towards the olfactory bulb. We suggest that it is possible to monitor progenitor cell migration also under pathological conditions.