Advances in Molecular Imaging Strategies for In Vivo Tracking of Immune Cells

Table 1

Immune cell tracking imaging strategies.

Types of cells	Labeling strategy	Imaging modality	Labeling method	Subject	Duration of tracking	Purpose	Clinical translation	Reference
DC	Direct	FLI	NIR-QD	Mouse	3 days	Tracking study	Limited	[4]
		PET	^18F-SFB	Mouse	4 h	Tracking study	Yes	[44]
		SPECT	^111Indium	Human	24–48 h	Tracking study	Yes	[43]
		SPECT	^111Indium/Tc-HMPAO	Human	48–72 h	Tracking study	Yes	[48]
DC	Indirect	BLI	Fluc	Mouse	4 days	Tracking study	Limited	[47]
		PET	NIS/^124I	Mouse	4 days	Tracking study	Yes	[47]
		MRI	FTH	Mouse	48 h	Tracking study	Yes	[45]
Macrophage	Direct	FLI	NIR nanoparticle	Mouse	3–24 h	Tracking to inflammation	Limited	[20]
		MRI	SPIO	Mouse	24 h	Tracking to inflammation	Yes	[49]
		MRI	Magnetic nanoparticle	Mouse	3–24 h	Tracking to inflammation	Yes	[20]
		MRI	SPIO	Mouse	6–13 days	Tracking to rheumatoid arthritis	Yes	[50]
Macrophage	Indirect	BLI	Fluc	Mouse	0–21 days	Tracking to inflammation	Limited	[51]
		BLI	Fluc	Mouse	1–4 days	Colon tumor targeting	Limited	[52]
		PET	NIS/^124I	Mouse	7 days	Tracking to inflammation	Yes	[53]
		PET	NIS/^124I	Mouse	8–21 days	Tracking to inflammation	Yes	[51]
		PET/CT	^18F-FB	Mouse	3 h	Tracking to lung carcinoma	Yes	[54]
T cells	Direct	MRI	IOPC-NH^2	Rat	24–48 h	Tracking study	Yes	[49]
		MRI	PFPE/^19F	Mouse	48 h	Tracking study	Yes	[55]
T cells	Indirect	BLI	Fluc	Mouse	24 h	Tracking study	Limited	[56]
		BLI	Fluc	Mouse	10 days	Tracking to lung carcinoma	Limited	[57]
		PET/CT	sr39tk/^18F-FHBG	Mouse	1–21 days	Melanoma tumor targeting	Yes	[58]
B cells	Direct	FLI	NIR nanoparticle	Mouse	1–15 days	Tracking study	Limited	[59]
		PET/CT	^89Zr-anti-B220	Mouse	15–72 h	Biodistribution study	Yes	[60]
B cells	Indirect	MRI	SPIO	Mouse	1–15 days	Tracking study	Yes	[60]
NK	Direct	FLI	NIR dye	Rat	24 h	Tracking study	Limited	[61]
		PET	^11C	Mouse	0.5–1 h	Tracking study	Yes	[62]
		SPECT	^111In	Human	0.5–144 h	Tracking and therapy study	Yes	[63]
		SPECT	^111In	Human	6 days	Biodistribution study	Yes	[64]
		SPECT	^111In	Human	6–96 h	Tracking study	Yes	[63]

DC: dendritic cell, NK: natural killer cell, FLI: fluorescence imaging, PET: positron emission tomography, SPECT: single photon emission computerized tomography, BLI: bioluminescence imaging, MRI: magnetic resonance imaging, CT: computed tomography, NIR: near infrared, QD: quantum dot, SFB: fluorobenzoate, NIS: sodium iodide symporter, HMPAO: hexamethylpropyleneamineoxime, SPIO: superparamagnetic iron oxide, Fluc: firefly luciferase, FB: fluorobenzene, IOPC: iron oxide nanoparticles coated, PFPE: perfluoropolyethers, sr39tk: mutant type of HSV-thymidine kinase, and FHBG: fluorohydroxymethyl butyl guanine.