Sushmita Saha1, Steven Frederick Tanner2,
Jennifer Kirkham1, David Wood1, Stephen Curran3,
Xuebin B. Yang1
1Department of Oral Biology, University
of Leeds, Leeds, W-Yorkshire, United Kingdom; 2Division of Medical
Physics, University of Leeds, Leeds, W-Yorkshire, United Kingdom; 3Smith
and Nephew Research Centre, York, United Kingdom
MRI
has been used to monitor the distribution of labelled cells in studies
related to cell therapy in regenerative medicine. There has been debate on the effects of the
Super-Paramagnetic Iron Oxide (SPIO) label on cellular differentiation along
the chondrogenic lineage. Whilst previous studies have employed tissue
staining to infer cartilage formation; here we use the quantitative reverse transcription
polymerase chain reaction technique to assess the effects of the SPIO label
on chondrogenic gene expression. The study has shown that inhibition of gene
expression resulting from SPIO labelling is dependent on the target cell
used.