In Vivo Monitoring of Cell Based Therapy in the Liver

摘要

The high mortality in the final stage of certain liver diseases and the lack of whole organ donors for liver transplantation require alternative therapeutic approaches. Cell based therapy has been one of the promising approaches for treating liver diseases. Hereby, the utilization of hepatocytes or stem cells differentiated towards functional hepatocytes has been studied intensively, hi order to validate the success of those approaches, it is necessary to monitor the location, homing and functionality of engrafted cells longitudinally and non-invasively. This has been possible with the help of imaging modalities like magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography and optical imaging methods. All those methods require contrast agents, tracers or imaging reporters that track not only the location of transplanted cells but also visualize their functional status in vivo.