Stem cell tracking with optically active nanoparticles.

Stem-cell-based therapies hold promise and potential to address many unmet clinical needs. Cell tracking with modern imaging modalities offers insight into the underlying biological process of the stem-cell-based therapies, with the goal to reveal cell survival, migration, homing, engraftment, differentiation, and functions. Adaptability, sensitivity, resolution, and non-invasiveness have contributed to the longstanding use of optical imaging for stem cell tracking and analysis. To identify transplanted stem cells from the host tissue, optically active probes are usually used to label stem cells before the administration. In comparison to the traditional fluorescent probes like fluorescent proteins and dyes, nanoparticle-based probes are advantageous in terms of the photo-stabilities and minimal changes to the cell phenotype. The main focus here is to overview the recent development of optically active nanoparticles for stem cells tracking. The related optical imaging modalities include fluorescence imaging, photoacoustic imaging, Raman and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy imaging.