The April edition of Neurosurgery has published a new method utilizing ‘quantum dots’ developed using nanotechnology to observe the impacts of stem cell treatments for stroke and other brain injuries. Neurosurgery is the formal journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons and is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
The researchers have revealed the utilization of ‘near-infrared fluorescence labeling’ to trace the performance of infused stem cells in brain-damaged rats. Dr. Taku Sugiyama and his colleagues of Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan, have stated that the outcomes of this method have unfolded new opportunities to build minimally-invasive near-infrared fluorescence imaging to trace bone marrow stem cells implanted in the human brain.
Bone marrow stem cells were utilized by researchers for the treatment of induced brain damages, akin to stroke in rats. Before infusion, the stem cells were tagged using ‘quantum dots’. The quantum dots are compatible to biological tissues and they are fluorescent semiconductors developed though nanotechnology methods. Other fluorescence methods of tagging stem cells feature comparatively shorter wavelengths and they don’t easily diffuse through bones and skin layers. The near-infrared light released by the quantum dots have longer wavelengths and they can easily diffuse through tissues. This feature enables researchers to observe the activity of injected stem cells in the brain by means of a computer-aided three- dimensional imaging system.
The latest technology enabled the researchers to identify the emission of near-infrared fluorescence from the injected stem cells as they progressed and included themselves in the region surrounding the damaged part of the brain. The near-infrared fluorescence increased steadily as per the activity of the stem cells and attained peak levels at four weeks following infusion and remained traceable for the next eight weeks. The results were corroborated by the direct assessment of the brain.
Stem cell transplantation is a promising therapy for stroke and other ailments of the central nervous system. The utilization of stem cells produced from the patient’s bone marrow is a potentially valuable method for treating traumatic brain damage in children.
Still, an imaging system is required to observe the performance of stem cells as they move towards the damaged location and transforms into new cells. Such methods would be significant to assess the restorative advantages of bone marrow stem cell transplantation in the treatment of central nervous system ailments.
Near-infrared fluorescence labeling by means of quantum dots seems to offer a minimally invasive method for observing the impacts of stem cell treatment in rat brain. Additional investigation is required to determine if the same methods can be deployed in human beings. If the results are successful, this technology would serve a significant role in experimental stem cell treatments for supporting functional resurgence of the brain following a stroke or other brain injuries.
Source: http://www.med.hokudai.ac.jp