Natural polymeric nanoparticles as a non-invasive probe for mesenchymal stem cell labelling.

Non-invasive tracking of stem cells after transplant is necessary for cell therapy and tissue engineering field. Herein, we introduce natural and biodegradable nanoparticle to develop a highly efficient nanoprobe with the ability to penetrate the stem cell for tracking. Based on the use of (Gd) to label stem cells for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) we synthesized nanoparticle-containing Gd. Gd could be used as -weighted MRI contrast agents. In this study, chitosan-alginate nanoparticles were synthesized as a clinical Dotarem carrier for decreased -weighted. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were utilized for nanoprobe characterization and ICP analysis was performed for Gd concentration measurement. The results illustrate that nanoprobes with spherical shape and with a size of 80 nm without any aggregation were obtained. Relaxivity results suggest that in the phantom was 12.8 mMs per Gd ion, which is 3.5 times larger than that for Dotarem ( ∼3.6 mMs per Gd ion) and this result for synthesized nanoprobe in stem cells 3.56 mMs per Gd ion with 2.16 times larger than that for Dotarem was reported and also enhanced signal in imaging was observed. Chitosan-alginate nanoparticles as a novel biocompatible probe for stem cell tracking can be utilized in tissue engineering approach.