Stem Cell Tracking Technologies

Stem cell researchers are also looking at ways of tracking specific cells as they move through the body, and methods of discerning cells that arise out of implanted stem cells after treatment. Stem cell research in a clinical capacity relies to a large degree on the ability to recognize when a stem cell transplant has resulted in the generation of new tissue in the location of the transplant. Without such stem cell tracking technologies it is difficult for scientists to assess whether any improvements in a condition (or, indeed, any problematic cell growth) is associated with the stem cells rather than the result of normal bodily processes.

Quantum Dots to Track Stem Cells

One way of tracking stem cells and their child cells has been developed by scientists at Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan. Their research will be of particular assistance to those studying the use of stem cells for brain damage and stroke as they have devised a non-invasive tracking method which can be used to monitor neural stem cell activity. Dr Sugiyama and colleagues have used ‘quantum dots’ produced through nanotechnology to monitor the stem cells’ progression without invasive testing. The dots are inserted into the stem cells as biocompatible labels which are detectable by fluorescence imaging after implantation and were shown to be an effective tracking method in rats treated for brain damage. Previous attempts at such tracking methods were ineffective as the wavelengths of the emitting fluorescence was too short, but the near-infrared light emitted by the quantum dots was easily detectable by the researchers’ 3D-imaging equipment.

Nucleofaction and Stem Cell Tracking

Another key development in stem cell technologies for tracking changes arising out of the stem cell intervention is nucleofection. This is a technique, developed by researchers at UC Irvine, in which tiny holes are created in the cell layer using minute electrical impulses. DNA can then enter the cell through these holes and the scientists can observe the progression of the DNA as it has been slightly altered in order to create proteins which glow green under a specialized light. This method allows scientists to efficiently insert DNA into cells to research different disease progressions and possible stem cell therapies. Non-invasive DNA tracking also aid researchers in judging the proliferation and growth of stem cells once implanted, thus aiding refinements and improvements on stem cell technologies. The application of such DNA tracking is appreciable when considering the use of DNA from induced pluripotent stem cells for insertion into skin cells with damaged DNA constituents. In animal models just such a technique has led to a cure for sickle cell anaemia with healthy bone marrow growth and normal blood cell production. This stem cell therapy is not yet available for human patients but this is certainly a promising step towards such treatments.

The UC Irvine research carried out in 2008 provides an alternative to the traditional use of chemicals to insert DNA into cells. This chemical process is not ideal as it can inadvertently kill the cells and is not terribly efficient at successfully transferring genetic information. The new DNA insertion technique is claimed to create between 10 and 100 successfully modified cells for every one genetically altered cell arising from the traditional chemical process. This means that scientists can potentially create a significant yield of genetically altered cells more efficiently for research and, potentially, therapeutic purposes. Diseases which are monogenic, where a single gene mutation is responsible for the disease condition, could be treated using this DNA insertion method. There are thought to be around 10,000 monogenic diseases including Huntington’s Disease, cystic fibrosis, and haemophilia, which could benefit from these new stem cell technologies.

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