http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/355/22/2376New England Journal Of Medicine
Volume 355:2376-2378 November 30, 2006 Number 22
Tracking Neural Stem Cells in Patients with Brain Trauma
Jianhong Zhu, M.D., Ph.D.
Liangfu Zhou, M.D.
Fudan University Huashan Hospital
Shanghai 200040, China
jzhu@fudan.edu.cnFengGe XingWu, M.D.
Shanghai National Key Laboratory for Medical Neurobiology
Shanghai 200032, China
To the Editor: Regeneration of damaged brain tissue with neural stem cells is a promising strategy for reversing neurologic deficits.1 Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles have been used to label and track dendritic cells in the experimental treatment of melanoma2 and in experiments in animals.3 We report the feasibility of labeling neural stem cells from humans (two patients for whom written informed consent was provided by next of kin) with superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles and tracking them with the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).