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Abstract
Regenerative medicine with the use of stem cells has appeared as a potential therapeutic alternative for many disease states. Despite initial enthusiasm, there has been relatively slow transition to clinical trials. In large part, numerous questions remain regarding the viability, biology and efficacy of transplanted stem cells in the living subject. The critical issues highlighted the importance of developing tools to assess these questions. Advances in molecular biology and imaging have allowed the successful non-invasive monitoring of transplanted stem cells in the living subject. Over the years these methodologies have been updated to assess not only the viability but also the biology of transplanted stem cells. In this review, different imaging strategies to study the viability and biology of transplanted stem cells are presented. Use of these strategies will be critical as the different regenerative therapies are being tested for clinical use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fakhar Abbas
- Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Joseph C. Wu
- Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Department of Medicine (Cardiology), Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Sanjiv Sam Gambhir
- Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Department of Bio-Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
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