Bensheng Qiu1, Daohai Xie, Piotr Walczak2, Jesus Ruiz-Cabello3, Satoshi Minoshima, Jeff W.M. Bulte2, Xiaoming Yang
1Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; 2Johns Hopkins University; 3Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Monitoring of stem cells migrating or homing to the targets is essential for the success of stem cell-based therapies. For non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to serially track cell migration, recent efforts have focused on labeling cells with MR contrast agents, such as superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) particles1. The currently-available MR cell labeling techniques include simple incubation and magnetoelectroporation. We attempted to develop an alternative instant cell labeling technique, using ultrasound to facilitate MR-labeling of cells, called magneto-sonoporation (MSP), which is based on the fact that ultrasound can increase cell membrane permeability to external molecules.