Piotr Walczak1,2, Martijn L.L Chatrou3, Luc W.E Starmans3, Assaf A. Gilad1,2, Klaas Nicolay3, Jeff W.M Bulte1,2
1Radiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA; 2Institute for Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA; 3Department of Biomedical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, Netherlands
Cell-based therapy of neurodegenerative disorders has shown considerable potential for clinical translation. The implementation of new non-invasive imaging techniques is needed to expedite further progress in this field. MR imaging of magnetically labeled cells is currently considered the method of choice for cellular imaging; however, proliferation and death of labeled cells with transfer of contrast to surrounding phagocytes are elements that may confound interpretation of the results. We show that intracellular Feridex is completely cleared by 95 days after cell transplantation regardless of potential host transfer to tissue macrophages.
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