Magnetic resonance imaging focused on the ferritin heavy chain 1 reporter gene detects neuronal differentiation in stem cells  

作　　者：Xiao-Ya He Yi-Rui Zhou Tong Mu Yi-Fan Liao Li Jiang Yong Qin Jin-Hua Cai 

机构地区：[1]Department of Radiology,Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University,National Clinical Research Center for Child Health and Disorders,Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders,Chongqing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics,Chongqing,China [2]Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism,West China Hospital,Sichuan University,Chengdu,Sichuan Province,China [3]Department of Nuclear Medicine,The Second Hospital of the Army Medical University,Chongqing,China [4]Department of Neurology,Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University,Chongqing,China

出　　处：《Neural Regeneration Research》2023年第7期1563-1569,共7页中国神经再生研究（英文版）

基　　金：supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.81771892(to JHC).

摘　　要：The neuronal differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells offers a new strategy for the treatment of neurological disorders.Thus,there is a need to identify a noninvasive and sensitive in vivo imaging approach for real-time monitoring of transplanted stem cells.Our previous study confirmed that magnetic resonance imaging,with a focus on the ferritin heavy chain 1 reporter gene,could track the proliferation and differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells that had been transduced with lentivirus carrying the ferritin heavy chain 1 reporter gene.However,we could not determine whether or when bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells had undergone neuronal differentiation based on changes in the magnetic resonance imaging signal.To solve this problem,we identified a neuron-specific enolase that can be differentially expressed before and after neuronal differentiation in stem cells.In this study,we successfully constructed a lentivirus carrying the neuron-specific enolase promoter and expressing the ferritin heavy chain 1 reporter gene;we used this lentivirus to transduce bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells.Cellular and animal studies showed that the neuron-specific enolase promoter effectively drove the expression of ferritin heavy chain 1 after neuronal differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells;this led to intracellular accumulation of iron and corresponding changes in the magnetic resonance imaging signal.In summary,we established an innovative magnetic resonance imaging approach focused on the induction of reporter gene expression by a neuron-specific promoter.This imaging method can be used to noninvasively and sensitively detect neuronal differentiation in stem cells,which may be useful in stem cell-based therapies.

关 键 词：ferric ammonium citrate ferritin heavy chain 1 gene magnetic resonance imaging mesenchymal stem cells molecular imaging neuronal differentiation neuron-like cells NEURONS neuron-specific enolase PROMOTER 

分 类 号：R741[医药卫生—神经病学与精神病学]