Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Labeling Using Quantum Dots

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells have received remarkable attention as the cell sources for clinical applications of regenerative medicine including stem cell therapy. Additionally, labeling technology is in high demand for tracing transplanted cells used in stem cell therapy. In this study, we used quantum dots (QDs), which have distinct fluorescence abilities in comparison with traditional probes, as the labeling materials and investigated whether iPS cells could be labeled with QDs with no cytotoxicity. iPS cells could not be labeled with QDs alone but required the use of cell-penetrating peptides such as octaarginine (R8). No significant cytotoxicity to iPS cells was confirmed by up to 8 nM QDs, and the iPS cells labeled with QDs maintained their undifferentiated state and pluripotency. These data suggest that QDs can be used for fluorescence labeling of iPS cells.

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

Browse all related research

Filter the research library by this study's title keywords, author, or publication year.