In vivo gamma imaging of the secondary tumors of transplanted human fetal striatum neural stem cells-derived primary tumor cells.

This study describes gamma-imaging of the secondary tumors from the transplanted human fetal striatum neural stem cells-derived primary tumor cells in nude mice. The subcutaneous primary tumors were detected to express integrin alphavbeta3, and the corresponding cells were isolated and enriched in vitro, then transplanted to the nude mice. The technetium-99m-labeled Arg-Gly-Asp peptide, with high affinity to integrin alphavbeta3, was prepared for biodistribution and gamma-imaging. The secondary tumors were readily visualized at 1-h postinjection, and the tumor uptake of radiotracer was similar to that of positive control animals transplanted with U87MG human glioma cells. The tumor specificity of radiotracer was demonstrated by blocking experiment. We concluded that gamma-imaging is a promising approach in imaging the tumorigenesis of transplanted stem cells in vivo.