Tyler James McKay1, Samuel E. Nutt2,
Jiakai Li1, Norman J. Beauchamp1, Xiaoming Yang1,
Philip J. Horner2, Bensheng Qiu1
1Radiology, University of
Washington, Seattle, WA, United States; 2Neurosurgery, University of
Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) offer tremendous potential to the field of regenerative medicine by providing an unlimited supply of patient-specific stem cells. Here we show that neutralized iPSCs (niPSC) are capable of migration to brain tumors with in vivo tracking by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). SPIO-labeled niPSCs and T98G glioma cells were implanted at contralateral sites in the brains of five nude mice. Weekly MRI scans reveal selective migration of niPSCs across the brain to the tumor mass. This finding is an important preliminary step in developing iPSC technology into clinical cell therapies for human diseases.
Keywords