Novel Perfluorocarbon Nanoemulsion for 19F MRI Cell Tracking of Two Cell Populations in Vivo

Jelena M. Janjic¹, Deepak K. Kadayakkara¹, Lisa K. Pusateri¹, Eric T. Ahrens^1,2

A novel, non-toxic ¹⁹F tracer reagent, perfluorotertbutylether (PFTE) nanoemulsion, suitable for ex vivo cell labeling and in vivo imaging is described. The feasibility of multi-spectral ¹⁹F MRI using PFTE and perfluoro-15-crown-5 ether (PCE) to visualize two cell populations in vivo is demonstrated. The development of the new PFTE nanoemulsion opens up the possibility to study immune cell-cell interactions in vivo using MRI.