Abstract
Stem cells play a special role in the body as agents of self-renewal and auto-reparation for tissues and organs. Stem cell therapies represent a promising alternative strategy to regenerate damaged tissue when natural repairing and conventional pharmacological intervention fail to do so. A fundamental impediment for the evolution of stem cell therapies has been the difficulty of effectively targeting administered stem cells to the disease foci. Biocompatible magnetically responsive nanoparticles are being utilized for the targeted delivery of stem cells in order to enhance their retention in the desired treatment site. This noninvasive treatment-localization strategy has shown promising results and has the potential to mitigate the problem of poor long-term stem cell engraftment in a number of organ systems post-delivery. In addition, these same nanoparticles can be used to track and monitor the cells in vivo, using magnetic resonance imaging. In the present review we underline the principles of magnetic targeting for stem cell delivery, with a look at the logic behind magnetic nanoparticle systems, their manufacturing and design variants, and their applications in various pathological models.
Highlights
Stem cells have been studied for their ability to replicate undifferentiated daughter cells that can be physiologically induced to mature under specific conditions
The use of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) as tools for delivering targeted stem cell therapies to damaged tissues is in its early stages of development, but its potential is promising
SPIONs for stem cell therapies on humans a transition into large animal studies will need to take place, as these will more accurately represent human physiological responses and will help address questions involving the scale up of stem cell dosages and magnetic fields used for treatment
Summary
Stem cells have been studied for their ability to replicate undifferentiated daughter cells that can be physiologically induced to mature under specific conditions. Characterized by multi or pluripotency, they have the ability to differentiate into a plethora of specialized cells and confer therapeutic benefits that have catalyzed the field of regenerative medicine [1,2] They have been shown to regenerate cardiomyocytes in myocardial infarction models, reendothelialize stented blood vessels, and induce vasculogenesis [3,4,5]. Full body 3D scanning, no ionizing radiation is used, difficult but possible quantification of cells, manipulation of cells using external magnetic field. Quantification can be difficult in PET, genetic modification of stem cells, intravenous injection of contrast agent, radioactive tracer can cause allergic reaction [17,21].
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