A Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Biomarker for Neural Progenitor Cells: Is It All Neurogenesis?

In vivo visualization of endogenous neural progenitor cells (NPCs) is crucial to advance stem cell research and will be essential to ensure the safety and efficacy of neurogenesis‐based therapies. Magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (i.e., spatially resolved spectroscopy in vivo) is a highly pr...

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Published in:Stem cells (Dayton, Ohio) Ohio), 2009-02, Vol.27 (2), p.420-423
Main Authors: Ramm, Paul, Couillard‐Despres, Sebastien, Plötz, Sonja, Rivera, Francisco J., Krampert, Monika, Lehner, Bernadette, Kremer, Werner, Bogdahn, Ulrich, Kalbitzer, Hans R., Aigner, Ludwig
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biomarkers - analysis
Cells, Cultured
Cercopithecus aethiops
COS Cells
Imaging
Lipid droplets
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Mesenchymal stem cells
Mice
Neural stem cells
Neurogenesis - physiology
Neurons - cytology
Neurons - metabolism
Stem Cells - cytology
Stem Cells - metabolism
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Summary:In vivo visualization of endogenous neural progenitor cells (NPCs) is crucial to advance stem cell research and will be essential to ensure the safety and efficacy of neurogenesis‐based therapies. Magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (i.e., spatially resolved spectroscopy in vivo) is a highly promising technique by which to investigate endogenous neurogenesis noninvasively. A distinct feature in nuclear magnetic resonance spectra (i.e., a lipid signal at 1.28 ppm) was recently attributed specifically to NPCs in vitro and to neurogenic regions in vivo. Here, we demonstrate that although this 1.28‐ppm biomarker is present in NPC cultures, it is not specific for the latter. The 1.28‐ppm marker was also evident in mesenchymal stem cells and in non‐stem cell lines. Moreover, it was absent in freshly isolated NPCs but appeared under conditions favoring growth arrest or apoptosis; it is initiated by induction of apoptosis and correlates with the appearance of mobile lipid droplets. Thus, although the 1.28‐ppm signal cannot be considered as a specific biomarker for NPCs, it might still serve as a sensor for processes that are tightly associated with neurogenesis and NPCs in vivo, such as apoptosis or stem cell quiescence. However, this requires further experimental evidence. The present work clearly urges the identification of additional biomarkers for NPCs and for neurogenesis. STEM CELLS 2009;27:420–423
ISSN:1066-5099
1549-4918
DOI:10.1634/stemcells.2008-0816