Review Article
Increased Understanding of Stem Cell Behavior in Neurodegenerative and Neuromuscular Disorders by Use of Noninvasive Cell Imaging
Figure 3
Longitudinal MRI studies of transplanted SVZ cells. T2-weighted MRI studies of transplanted SVZ cells 2 h after transplantation into the striatum (a) and 21 days later (b). Images were acquired with a 9.4 T machine. The needle track and cell transplant have been arbitrarily delineated by a dotted blue line. The schematic atlas drawings have been overlaid onto MRI images to facilitate anatomical localization of the graft site (see methods for overlay procedure). (c) Prussian blue staining of the rat striatum depicts distribution of transplanted, iron oxide-labeled SVZ cells one month after transplantation. Iron deposits stain blue with potassium ferrocyanide. Cells are also counterstained with pararosaniline allowing the cytoplasm to appear as light pink also depicted in cells in vitro (see inset (c)). Further MRI of SVZ cells into the RMS confirmed correct positioning of the graft immediately after the transplantation procedures (d) and normal localization and growth 14 days after transplantation (e). (f) A sagittal T2-weighted MR image shows the migration of SPIO-labeled SVZ cells towards the olfactory bulb 7 days after transplantation. STR, striatum; CC, corpus callosum; LO, lateral orbital cortex; VLO, ventrolateral orbital cortex; MO/VO, medial orbital cortex/ventral orbital cortex [114].