Nadimpalli R. S. Varma1, Asm Iskander1,
Adarsh Shankar1, Branislava Janic1, Kenneth Barton2,
Meser M. Ali1, Hamid Soltanian-Zadeh1, Quan Jiang3,
Ali Syed Arbab1
1Radiology, Henry Ford
Hospital, Detroit, MI, United States; 2Radiation Oncology, Henry
Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI, United States; 3Neurology, Henry Ford
Hospital, Detroit, MI, United States
Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) were collected from human cord blood and genetically modified to carry sodium human iodide symporter (hNIS) gene. Transgenic and control EPCs were magnetically labeled and administered systemically or locally in human glioma bearing rats. Migration and expression of hNIS in glioma were monitored by MRI and Tc-99m SPECT imaging, respectively. Both MRI and Tc-99-SPECT were able to track the migration and accumulation of systemically and locally administered EPCs in glioma. Expression of hNIS was detected by Tc-99m activity. EPcs can be used as imaging probe and gene carrier.