Efficient and Rapid Labeling of Transplanted Cell Populations with Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Using Cell Surface Chemical Biotinylation for in Vivo Monitoring by MRI

Determination of the dynamics of specific cell populations in vivo is essential for the development of cell-based therapies. For cell tracking by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), cells need to internalize, or be surface labeled with a MRI contrast agent, such as superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIOs): SPIOs give rise to signal loss by gradient-echo and T(2)-weighted MRI techniques. In this study, cancer cells were chemically tagged …