Muñiz-García Ana, Pichardo Alejandra Hernandez, Littlewood James, Tasker Suzannah, Sharkey Jack, Wilm Bettina, Peace Hannah, O'Callaghan Dermott, Green Mark, Taylor Arthur, Murray Patricia
Department of Molecular Physiology and Cell Signalling, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool Liverpool UK
Centre for Genomics and Child Health, Blizard Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London London UK.
Nanoscale Adv. 2023 Sep 15;5(20):5520-5528. doi: 10.1039/d3na00546a. eCollection 2023 Oct 10.
Tracking the biodistribution of cell therapies is crucial for understanding their safety and efficacy. Optical imaging techniques are particularly useful for tracking cells due to their clinical translatability and potential for intra-operative use to validate cell delivery. However, there is a lack of appropriate optical probes for cell tracking. The only FDA-approved material for clinical use is indocyanine green (ICG). ICG can be used for both fluorescence and photoacoustic imaging, but is prone to photodegradation, and at higher concentrations, undergoes quenching and can adversely affect cell health. We have developed novel near-infrared imaging probes comprising conjugated polymer nanoparticles (CPNs™) that can be fine-tuned to absorb and emit light at specific wavelengths. To compare the performance of the CPNs™ with ICG for cell tracking, labelled mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) were injected subcutaneously in mice and detected using fluorescence imaging (FI) and a form of photoacoustic imaging called multispectral optoacoustic tomography (MSOT). MSCs labelled with either ICG or CPN™ 770 could be detected with FI, but only CPN™ 770-labelled MSCs could be detected with MSOT. These results show that CPNs™ show great promise for tracking cells using optical imaging techniques, and for some applications, out-perform ICG.
追踪细胞疗法的生物分布对于了解其安全性和有效性至关重要。光学成像技术因其临床可转化性以及术中用于验证细胞递送的潜力，在追踪细胞方面特别有用。然而，缺乏合适的用于细胞追踪的光学探针。唯一获得美国食品药品监督管理局（FDA）批准用于临床的材料是吲哚菁绿（ICG）。ICG可用于荧光成像和光声成像，但容易发生光降解，并且在较高浓度下会发生淬灭，还可能对细胞健康产生不利影响。我们开发了新型近红外成像探针，其由共轭聚合物纳米颗粒（CPNs™）组成，可进行微调以在特定波长吸收和发射光。为了比较CPNs™与ICG在细胞追踪方面的性能，将标记的间充质基质细胞（MSCs）皮下注射到小鼠体内，并使用荧光成像（FI）和一种称为多光谱光声断层扫描（MSOT）的光声成像形式进行检测。用ICG或CPN™ 770标记的MSCs均可通过FI检测到，但只有用CPN™ 770标记的MSCs可通过MSOT检测到。这些结果表明，CPNs™在使用光学成像技术追踪细胞方面显示出巨大潜力，并且在某些应用中优于ICG。
