Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.7.1.21 (thymidine kinase)
7,561 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Whether differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) in ischemic myocardium enhances their immunogenicity, thereby increasing their chance for rejection, is unclear. Here, we dynamically demonstrated the immunogenicity and rejection of iPSCs in ischemic myocardium using bioluminescent imaging (BLI). Murine iPSCs were transduced with a tri-fusion (TF) reporter gene consisting of firefly luciferase-red fluorescent protein-truncated thymidine kinase (fluc-mrfp-tTK). Ascorbic acid (Vc) were used to induce iPSCs to differentiate into cardiomyocytes (CM). iPSCs and iPS-CMs were intramyocardially injected into immunocompetent or immunosuppressed allogenic murine with myocardial infarction. BLI was performed to track transplanted cells. Immune cell infiltration was evaluated by immunohistochemistry. Syngeneic iPSCs were also injected and evaluated. The results demonstrated that undifferentiated iPSCs survived and proliferated in allogenic immunocompetent recipients early post-transplantation, accompanying with mild immune cell infiltration. With in vivo differentiation, a progressive immune cell infiltration could be detected. While transplantation of allogenic iPSC-CMs were observed an acute rejection from receipts. In immune-suppressed recipients, the proliferation of iPSCs could be maintained and intramyocardial teratomas were formed. Transplantation of syngeneic iPSCs and iPSC-CMs were also observed progressive immune cell infiltration. This study demonstrated that iPSC immunogenicity increases with in vivo differentiation, which will increase their chance for rejection in iPSC-based therapy.
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PMID:Molecular imaging of induced pluripotent stem cell immunogenicity with in vivo development in ischemic myocardium. 2384 Apr 53

Many pathophysiological processes are associated with proliferation, migration or death of distinct cell populations. Monitoring specific cell types and their progeny in a non-invasive, longitudinal and quantitative manner is still challenging. Here we show a novel cell-tracking system that combines Cre/lox-assisted cell fate mapping with a thymidine kinase (sr39tk) reporter gene for cell detection by positron emission tomography (PET). We generate Rosa26-mT/sr39tk PET reporter mice and induce sr39tk expression in platelets, T lymphocytes or cardiomyocytes. As proof of concept, we demonstrate that our mouse model permits longitudinal PET imaging and quantification of T-cell homing during inflammation and cardiomyocyte viability after myocardial infarction. Moreover, Rosa26-mT/sr39tk mice are useful for whole-body characterization of transgenic Cre mice and to detect previously unknown Cre activity. We anticipate that the Cre-switchable PET reporter mice will be broadly applicable for non-invasive long-term tracking of selected cell populations in vivo.Non-invasive cell tracking is a powerful method to visualize cells in vivo under physiological and pathophysiological conditions. Here Thunemann et al. generate a mouse model for in vivo tracking and quantification of specific cell types by combining a PET reporter gene with Cre-dependent activation that can be exploited for any cell population for which a Cre mouse line is available.
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PMID:Cre/lox-assisted non-invasive in vivo tracking of specific cell populations by positron emission tomography. 2887 62