Stem cell therapy has the potential to repair and regenerate damaged tissues. Implanted cells might, however, be rejected, migrate or die; tracking stem cells in vivo may help to further understand what happens once these cells are inside the host.
Huan-Cheng Chang and colleagues used fluorescent nanodiamonds to tag lung stem cells and implant them in mice with damaged lungs. They found that not only did the damaged lung cells of the mice restore rapidly, but that the uptake and regeneration of stem cells could be tracked with single-cell resolution. The authors suggest that, in the future, the technique could also be used to monitor the uptake of different kinds of stem cell, such as bone marrow stem cells.
CONTACT
Huan-Cheng Chang (Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan)
Tel: +886 2 2366 8260; E-mail: [email protected]
