Ferumoxytol-based Dual-modality Imaging Probe for Detection of Stem Cell Transplant Rejection.

Stem cell transplants are an effective approach to repair large bone defects. However, comprehensive techniques to monitor the fate of transplanted stem cells are lacking. Such strategies would enable corrective interventions at an early stage and greatly benefit the development of more successful tissue regeneration approaches.

Epigenetic DNA Methylation Linked to Social Dominance.

Social status hierarchies are ubiquitous in vertebrate social systems, including humans. It is well known that social rank can influence quality of life dramatically among members of social groups. For example, high-ranking individuals have greater access to resources, including food and mating prerogatives that, in turn, have a positive impact on their reproductive success and health.

Magnetic resonance imaging of stem cell apoptosis in arthritic joints with a caspase activatable contrast agent.

About 43 million individuals in the U.S. encounter cartilage injuries due to trauma or osteoarthritis, leading to joint pain and functional disability.

Improved approach for chondrogenic differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells.

Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) have demonstrated great potential for hyaline cartilage regeneration. However, current approaches for chondrogenic differentiation of hiPSCs are complicated and inefficient primarily due to intermediate embryoid body formation, which is required to generate endodermal, ectodermal, and mesodermal cell lineages. We report a new, straightforward and highly efficient approach for chondrogenic differentiation of hiPSCs, which avoids embryoid body formation.

Development of novel tumor-targeted theranostic nanoparticles activated by membrane-type matrix metalloproteinases for combined cancer magnetic resonance imaging and therapy.

A major drawback with current cancer therapy is the prevalence of unrequired dose-limiting toxicity to non-cancerous tissues and organs, which is further compounded by a limited ability to rapidly and easily monitor drug delivery, pharmacodynamics and therapeutic response. In this report, the design and characterization of novel multifunctional "theranostic" nanoparticles (TNPs) is described for enzyme-specific drug activation at tumor sites and simultaneous in vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of drug delivery. TNPs are synthesized by conjugation of FDA-approved iron oxide nanoparticles ferumoxytol to an MMP-activatable peptide conjugate of azademethylcolchicine (ICT), creating CLIO-ICTs (TNPs).

Iron administration before stem cell harvest enables MR imaging tracking after transplantation.

Purpose: To determine whether intravenous ferumoxytol can be used to effectively label mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in vivo and can be used for tracking of stem cell transplants.

Materials And Methods: This study was approved by the institutional animal care and use committee. Sprague-Dawley rats (6-8 weeks old) were injected with ferumoxytol 48 hours prior to extraction of MSCs from bone marrow.