Ferumoxytol Can Be Used for Quantitative Magnetic Particle Imaging of Transplanted Stem Cells

Purpose To evaluate, if clinically translatable ferumoxytol nanoparticles can be used for in vivo detection and quantification of stem cell transplants with magnetic particle imaging (MPI). Procedures Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were labeled with ferumoxytol or ferucarbotran and underwent MPI, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Prussian blue staining, and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spectrometry. Unlabeled, ferumoxytol, and ferucarbotran-labeled MSCs were implanted in calvarial defects of eight mice and underwent MPI, MRI, and histopathology. The iron concentration calculated according to the MPI signal intensity and T2 relaxation times of the three different groups were compared using an analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Bonferroni correction, and a p