A proof-of-concept study to investigate the radiolabelling of human mesenchymal and hematopoietic stem cells with [Zr]Zr-Df-Bz-NCS.

Background: The transplantation of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) or mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs) for the treatment of a wide variety of diseases has been studied extensively. A challenge with cell-based therapies is that migration to and retention at the target site is often difficult to monitor and quantify. Zirconium-89 (Zr) is a positron-emitting radionuclide with a half-life of 3.

Evaluation of [Ga]Ga-DOTA-AeK as a Potential Imaging Tool for PET Imaging of Cell Wall Synthesis in Bacterial Infections.

The ability of bacteria to recycle exogenous amino acid-based peptides and amino sugars for peptidoglycan biosynthesis was extensively investigated using optical imaging. In particular, fluorescent AeK-NBD was effectively utilized to study the peptidoglycan recycling pathway in Gram-negative bacteria. Based on these promising results, we were inspired to develop the radioactive AeK conjugate [Ga]Ga-DOTA-AeK for the in vivo localization of bacterial infection using PET/CT.

Extensive immunophenotypic sub-population analysis of StemRegenin1 expanded haematopoietic stem/progenitor cells.

Background: Ex vivo haematopoietic stem/progenitor cell (HSPCs) expansion constitutes an important area of research, and has the potential to improve access to umbilical cord blood (UCB) as a source of stem cells for haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The ability to improve stem cell dose and thereby reduce delayed engraftment times, which has plagued the use of UCB as a stem cell source since inception, is a recognised advantage. The extent to which cluster of differentiation (CD)34 sub-populations are affected by expansion with StemRegenin1 (SR1), and whether a particular subtype may account for better engraftment than others, is currently unknown.

Effect of 2-methoxyestradiol on mammary tumor initiation and progression.

Background: The anti-cancer agent 2-methoxyestradiol (2-ME) has been shown to have anti-proliferative and anti-angiogenic properties. Previously, the effect of 2-ME on early- and late-stage breast cancer (BC) was investigated in vivo using a transgenic mouse model (FVB/N-Tg(MMTV-PyVT)) of spontaneous mammary carcinoma. Anti-tumor effects were observed in late-stage BC with no effect on early-stage BC.