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In Vivo Tracking of Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticle Labeled Chondrocytes in Large Animal Model

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Abstract

Chondrocytes have been widely used as tissue engineered seed cells for repair of focal cartilage lesions in clinic. However, in vivo behaviors of delivered chondrocytes are still poorly understood. In this study, the feasibility of in vivo tracking of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle (SPIO)-labeled chondrocytes by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for articular cartilage repair in minipig model was investigated. Results showed that chondrocytes were efficiently labeled by SPIO at optimal low dosages while maintaining essential cell properties. MRI SET2WI sequence revealed that marked hypointense signal void areas representing the transplanted labeled chondrocytes could be observed for at least 12 weeks. Histochemical staining confirmed the presence of Prussian blue-positive cells and GFP-positive cells at the hypointense signal void areas. These findings provide knowledge on the in vivo tracking of SPIO labeled chondrocytes on cartilage repair following transplantation in minipigs.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30870639, 30872619). The authors thank professor Ai Hua (National Engineering Research Center for Biomaterials, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China) for his generous gift of PEI/SPIO.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center of Joint Surgery, Southwest Hospital, The Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China

    Jiarong Chen, Fuyou Wang, Yi Zhang, Yong Feng, Xiao Lin & Liu Yang

  2. Department of Radiology, Southwest Hospital, The Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China

    Lin Zhang

  3. Department of Orthopedics, Haikou Hospital, Xiangya Medical College, Central South University, Hainan, 570100, China

    Xuhong Jin

Authors
  1. Jiarong Chen
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  2. Fuyou Wang
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  3. Yi Zhang
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  4. Xuhong Jin
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  5. Lin Zhang
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  6. Yong Feng
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  7. Xiao Lin
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  8. Liu Yang
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Correspondence to Liu Yang.

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Associate Editor Smadar Cohen oversaw the review of this article.

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Chen, J., Wang, F., Zhang, Y. et al. In Vivo Tracking of Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticle Labeled Chondrocytes in Large Animal Model. Ann Biomed Eng 40, 2568–2578 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-012-0621-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-012-0621-5

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