Growth curve documenting relative proliferation rates of commercial (Lonza) BMSC, commercial (Invitrogen) AMSC, and the two primary AMSC cell lines (671, 654).

<p>The values shown are the mean of three replicates per cell line per time point, and the S.E.M (*:p<0.05).</p

Stemness of primary AMSC lines demonstrated with differentiation along three mesenchymal lineages, Adipocyte (a, d [48], g), Osteocyte (b [48], e, h), and Chondrocyte (c [48], f, i), documented via lineage specific staining with Oil Red O, Alizarin Red, and Collagen II, respectively.

<p>The details of the staining protocols are provided in the methods section. Scale bar, 50 µm.</p

Primary and commercial AMSCs and commercial BMSCs have similar tropism to glioma conditioned media <i>in vitro</i>, although there is notable variability in the tropism of the primary AMSC lines.

<p>Analysis of individual cell line tumor tropism in a matrigel-coated insert Boyden chamber migration assay; migration for each line was normalized to the serum free media condition. Results are reported as mean ± S.E.M., n = 9. (* represents the statistically significant difference within groups and # represents the statistically significant difference between groups).</p

Stemness of the primary adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cell lines (AMSC), and the Invitrogen supplied commercial AMSC line, confirmed with FACS documenting the absence of hematopoetic surface antigens CD31/CD45 and the presence of cell adhesion markers CD73/CD90/CD105.

<p>Percentage of each antigen was analyzed using Kaluza software and labeled in the responsive graph.</p

Mesoporous Silica-Coated Hollow Manganese Oxide Nanoparticles as Positive <i>T</i>₁ Contrast Agents for Labeling and MRI Tracking of Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Mesoporous silica-coated hollow manganese oxide (HMnO@mSiO₂) nanoparticles were developed as a novel <i>T</i>₁ magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent. We hypothesized that the mesoporous structure of the nanoparticle shell enables optimal access of water molecules to the magnetic core, and consequently, an effective longitudinal (<i>R</i>₁) relaxation enhancement of water protons, which value was measured to be 0.99 (mM⁻¹s⁻¹) at 11.7 T. Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were efficiently labeled using electroporation, with much shorter <i>T</i>₁ values as compared to direct incubation without electroporation, which was also evidenced by signal enhancement on <i>T</i>₁-weighted MR images in vitro. Intracranial grafting of HMnO@mSiO₂-labeled MSCs enabled serial MR monitoring of cell transplants over 14 days. These novel nanoparticles may extend the arsenal of currently available nanoparticle MR contrast agents by providing positive contrast on <i>T</i>₁-weighted images at high magnetic field strengths