Abstract
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been used for the treatment of various human diseases. To better understand the mechanism of this action and the fate of these cells, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been used for the tracking of transplanted stem cells. Prussian blue nanoparticles (PBNPs) have been demonstrated to have the ability of labeling cells to visualize them as an effective MRI contrast agent. In this study, we aimed to investigate the efficiency and biological effects of labeled MSCs using PBNPs. We first synthesized and characterized the PBNPs. Then, iCELLigence real-time cell analysis system revealed that PBNPs did not significantly alter cell viability, proliferation, and migration activity in PBNP-labeled MSCs. Oil Red O staining and Alizarin Red staining revealed that labeled MSCs also have a normal differentiation capacity. Phalloidin staining showed no negative effect of PBNPs on the cytoskeleton. Western blot analysis indicated that PBNPs also did not change the expression of β-catenin and vimentin of MSCs. In vitro MRI, the pellets of the MSCs incubated with PBNPs showed a clear MRI signal darkening effect. In conclusion, PBNPs can be effectively used for the labeling of MSCs and will not influence the biological characteristics of MSCs.
Highlights
Mesenchymal stem cells, a type of adult stem cell, have the capacity of anti-inflammatory, regenerative potential and can migrate into injured tissues to aid the recovery of damaged function [1]
We propose that the internalization of the Prussian blue nanoparticle (PBNP) in C3H10T1/2 cells may occur via a similar mechanism as the previous study demonstrated, which had reported that different inorganic nanoparticles including Prussian blue–Poly(L-lysine), gold, silver, and metaloxides can be readily taken up by cells via endocytosis [15, 22, 23]
These results indicated that PBNPs cannot change the expression of β-catenin and vimentin of Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC), which showed the stability of biological function of MSCs after treatment with PBNPs
Summary
Mesenchymal stem cells, a type of adult stem cell, have the capacity of anti-inflammatory, regenerative potential and can migrate into injured tissues to aid the recovery of damaged function [1] They can differentiate into multiple cell types under the specific microenvironment and are collected from adult and fetal tissue [2]. Wen et al Nanoscale Research Letters (2018) 13:329 for labeling MSCs to realize the targeted imaging and synergistic therapy of gastric cancer cells in vivo [10]. For these novel labels, a careful and complete analysis of cell toxicity is needed because everything has a toxic dose and may perturb downstream cell function [11]. The MRI contrast iron oxide nanoparticles was attributed to the generation of ROS and may cause cell death [12]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
