Non-invasive Imaging and Tracking of Engineered Human Muscle Precursor Cells for Skeletal Muscle Tissue Engineering Using Positron Emission Tomography

摘要

Transplantation of human muscle precursor cells (hMPCs) is envisioned for the treatment of various muscle diseases. However, a feasible non-invasive tool to monitor cell survival, migration and integration into the host tissue is still missing.MethodsIn this study, we designed an adenoviral delivery system to genetically modify hMPCs to express a signaling-deficient form of a human dopamine D2 receptor (hD2R). The gene expression levels of the receptor were evaluated by Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RTPCR) and infection efficiency was visualized by fluorescent microscopy. Viability, proliferation and differentiation capacity of the transduced cells were confirmed and their sustained myogenic phenotype was shown by flow cytometry analysis and fluorescent microscopy. 18F-Fallypride and 18F-FMISO, two well-established PET radioligands, were successfully synthesized and evaluated for their potential to image engineered hMPCs in a mouse model. Furthermore, biodistribution studies and autoradiography were also performed to determine the extent of signal specificity.