Vascular Biology Center, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, USA.
Methods Mol Biol. 2020;2150:121-129. doi: 10.1007/7651_2019_226.
Stem cell-based therapies hold great promise as alternative therapeutic strategies for various chronic diseases, including ischemic cardiomyopathy. Tracking the engraftment of transplanted stem cells is critical to the assessment of donor cell survival in the host environment. Fluorescent proteins, such as green fluorescent protein (GFP), have been widely used to track the fate of donor cells; however, GFP labeling has limitations with regard to noninvasively measuring cell engraftment in vivo. Our research indicates that near-infrared fluorescent protein (iRFP) labeling offers advantages for noninvasive in vivo imaging and histological assessment. Here, we present a protocol for using the lentiviral vector-mediated iRFP vector system to label and track donor stem cells in ischemic mouse hearts.
基于干细胞的疗法作为各种慢性疾病的替代治疗策略具有很大的潜力,包括缺血性心肌病。跟踪移植干细胞的植入对于评估供体细胞在宿主环境中的存活至关重要。荧光蛋白,如绿色荧光蛋白(GFP),已被广泛用于跟踪供体细胞的命运;然而,GFP 标记在非侵入性地测量体内细胞植入方面存在局限性。我们的研究表明,近红外荧光蛋白(iRFP)标记在非侵入性体内成像和组织学评估方面具有优势。在这里,我们提出了一种使用慢病毒载体介导的 iRFP 载体系统标记和跟踪缺血性小鼠心脏中的供体干细胞的方案。