Gao Yu, Wang Yaqi, Fu Afu, Shi Wei, Yeo David, Luo Kathy Qian, Ow Hooisweng, Xu Chenjie
Division of Bioengineering, School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637457, Singapore.
J Mater Chem B. 2015 Feb 21;3(7):1245-1253. doi: 10.1039/c4tb01452a. Epub 2014 Dec 19.
Stem cell tracking can reveal the underlying biological processes of stem-cell-based therapies such as the migration and biodistribution of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) in cancer therapy. Nanoparticle-based contrast agents offer unprecedented opportunities for achieving this goal due to their unique and tunable imaging capabilities. However, most nanoparticles are still in the process of development due to challenges such as retention time and safety issues, and are inaccessible to most researchers. In this article, we investigate the potential application of core-shell fluorescent silica nanoparticles (i.e. C dots), which are commercially available and approved by the FDA for clinical trials. Specifically we demonstrate that 500 nm C dots have prolonged cellular retention (up to one month), minimal contrast agent transfer (at least three weeks) between cells in a co-culture Boyden chamber system, and minimal influence on the hMSC properties including viability, proliferation, differentiation, and tropism to tumor cells.
干细胞追踪能够揭示基于干细胞疗法的潜在生物学过程，例如人类间充质干细胞（hMSCs）在癌症治疗中的迁移和生物分布。基于纳米颗粒的造影剂因其独特且可调节的成像能力，为实现这一目标提供了前所未有的机遇。然而，由于诸如保留时间和安全性问题等挑战，大多数纳米颗粒仍处于研发阶段，并且大多数研究人员无法获取。在本文中，我们研究了核壳荧光二氧化硅纳米颗粒（即碳点）的潜在应用，这些纳米颗粒是市售的且已获得美国食品药品监督管理局（FDA）批准用于临床试验。具体而言，我们证明了500纳米的碳点具有延长的细胞保留时间（长达一个月），在共培养博伊登室系统中细胞间的造影剂转移极少（至少三周），并且对hMSC的特性（包括活力、增殖、分化以及对肿瘤细胞的趋向性）影响极小。
