Cicely Williams1, Dorit Granot2,
Teodor Leahu1, Erin B. Lavik3, Erik M. Shapiro,
1,2
1Department of Biomedical Engineering,
Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States; 2Department of
Diagnostic Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT,
United States; 3Center for Translational Neuroscience, Case
Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, United States
Critical
to the use of magnetic particles for MRI-based cell tracking is that
particles not interfere with cellular processes. This is especially the case
with stem cells. In this work, we investigated the effect of magnetic cell
labeling with various sized MPIOs on differentiation of mesenchymal stem
cells and neural progenitor cells, down multiple cell lineages. Neural
progenitor cells labeled with MPIOs differentiated into neurons and glia
identically to unlabeled cells. Similarly, mesenchymal stem cells labeled with
MPIOs were able to differentiate into adipocytes and osteocytes identically
to unlabeled cells. Importantly, MPIOs remained intracellular during
differentiation.