Page 23 - Cellular Imaging in Regenerative Medicine, Cancer and Osteoarthritis

for cell labelling and MR imaging studies was investigated by studying the effect of variations in labelling protocols regarding incorporation, distribution and retention of iron oxide nanoparticles. By mimicking the effects of various distribution patterns through labelling of cells with small (SPIO) and larger (MPIO) iron particles we studied the effect of various inter- and intra-cellular distributions profiles on quantifiability of iron oxide-labelled cells, as described in Chapter 3. To label the cells with iron oxide particles different strategies can be followed. So, in Chapter 2 and 3 we added a transfection agent to enhance entrance of iron particles into the cells. The aim of our in vitro study described in Chapter 4 was to find the optimal parameters for non-invasive, microbubble-mediated SPIO labelling of endothelial cells to eventually enable iron particle endothelial cell labelling in the body. In Chapter 5 our research aimed to increase in vivo stability of an Indium-111 labelled radiopeptide targeting the gastrin-releasing peptide receptor (GRPR). In Chapter 6 we investigated how to further improve the biodistribution of another peptide, targeting somatostatin receptor subtype 2, by prolonging the tracer circulation time upon adding an albumin-binding domain to the radiopeptide structure. In Chapter 7 we investigated the value of the somatostatin receptor subtype 2 as a novel imaging marker for pro-inflammatory macrophages also using the DMM osteoarthritic mouse model.
Introduction
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