Wilson Kitchener D, Huang Mei, Wu Joseph C
Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
Methods Mol Biol. 2009;574:87-103. doi: 10.1007/978-1-60327-321-3_8.
The discovery of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) has dramatically increased the tools available to medical scientists interested in regenerative medicine. However, direct injection of hESCs, and cells differentiated from hESCs, into living organisms has thus far been hampered by significant cell death, teratoma formation, and host immune rejection. Understanding the in vivo hESC behavior after transplantation requires novel imaging techniques to longitudinally monitor hESC localization, proliferation, and viability. Molecular imaging, and specifically bioluminescent reporter gene imaging, has given investigators a high-throughput, inexpensive, and sensitive means for tracking in vivo cell proliferation over days, weeks, and even months. This advancement has significantly increased the understanding of the spatiotemporal kinetics of hESC engraftment and proliferation in living subjects. In this chapter, the specific materials and methods needed for tracking stem cell proliferation with bioluminescence imaging will be described.
人类胚胎干细胞（hESCs）的发现极大地增加了对再生医学感兴趣的医学科学家可用的工具。然而，迄今为止，将hESCs以及从hESCs分化而来的细胞直接注射到活生物体中受到显著的细胞死亡、畸胎瘤形成和宿主免疫排斥的阻碍。了解移植后hESCs在体内的行为需要新的成像技术来纵向监测hESCs的定位、增殖和活力。分子成像，特别是生物发光报告基因成像，为研究人员提供了一种高通量、低成本且灵敏的手段，用于在数天、数周甚至数月内追踪体内细胞增殖。这一进展显著增加了对hESCs在活体受试者中植入和增殖的时空动力学的理解。在本章中，将描述使用生物发光成像追踪干细胞增殖所需的具体材料和方法。
