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Abstract #3698

A Novel Dual MRI-Fluorescent Contrast Agent to Track T-Cells for In-Vivo Imaging

Li Liu1, Qing Ye1, Yijen L. Wu1, Chih-Lung Chen2, Wen-Yuan Hsieh2, Hsin-Hsin Shen2, T. Kevin Hitchens1, Brent Barbe1, Haosen Zhang1, Shian-Jy Wang2, Chien Ho1

1Pittsburgh NMR Center for Biomedical Research, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, United States; 2Material and Chemical Research Laboratory, Industrial Technology Research Institute, Hsinchu, Taiwan


In this study, we develop a novel dual MRI-fluorescent contrast agent, which is a cationic nano-sized superparamagnetic iron oxide particle coated with polyethylene glycol, with high transverse relaxivity (around 250 s-1mM-1) and T-cell labeling efficiency (over 90%). Labeling of T-cells with ITRI-IOPC-NH2 does not perturbing T-cell functions. After i.v. injection of ITRI-IOPC-NH2labled-T-cells, localized hypointensity can be detected at the rejecting heart of a rodent transplantation model by in-vivo MRI and ex-vivo MRM.