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Abstract #0561

A Novel Strategy to Track Short-Term Stem Cell Viability and Integration Using Diffusion-Activated MRI Contrast Agents in a Murine Model of Radiation-Induced Cognitive Dysfunction

Ethel Ngen1, Lee Wang1, Yoshinori Kato1, Nishant Gandhi2, Balaji Krishnamachary1, Barbara Smith3, Wenlian Zhu1, Micheal Armour2, John Wong2, Zaver M. Bhujwalla4, Katheleen Gabrielson5, Dmitri Artemov1

1Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States; 2Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States; 3Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States; 4Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States; 5Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States


Given the limited regenerative ability of the central nervous system, several stem cell-based therapies are currently being investigated to repair brain damage. In order to effectively manage these therapeutic regimes, there is a need for non-invasive and clinically translatable imaging strategies capable of tracking the engraftment and survival of transplanted stem cells with high resolutions. In this study, we non-invasively monitored the viability and homing of transplanted stem cells in mice, using a dual-labeled MRI contrast strategy. Furthermore, an image-guided radiation-induced murine model of cognitive dysfunction was developed to assess the efficiency of the MR activation strategy in vivo.