In vivo magnetic resonance tracking of Feridex-labeled bone marrow-derived neural stem cells after autologous transplantation in rhesus monkey.

Bone marrow stroma cells-derived neural stem cells (BMSCs-D-NSCs) transplantation is a promising strategy for the treatment of nervous system disorders. The development of a non-invasive method to follow the fate of BMSCs-D-NSCs in vivo is very important for the future application of this treatment. In this paper, we show for the first time, that BMSCs-D-NSCs from rhesus monkeys can be labeled in vitro with the superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) contrast agent Feridex and Poly-L-lysine (PLL) without affecting morphology, cell cycle, telomerase activity, proliferation and differentiation ability of the labeled cells. Furthermore, when autografted into the striatum, these cells survived, differentiated and were incorporated into the brain, and could be reliably tracked using MRI, as confirmed by histological examination of the grafting sites with PKH(67) fluorescence. These results suggest that Feridex labeling of BMSCs-D-NSCs is feasible, efficient and safe for MRI tracing following autografting into the rhesus monkey nervous system.