Quantum dot labeled stem cells for use in providing pacemaker function

US8170665B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignees

• The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York · US
• The Research Foundation of the State University of New York · US

Inventors

• Ira S. Cohen · Stony Brook, US
• Amy B. Rosen · New York, US
• Peter R. Brink · Setauket, US
• Glenn Gaudette · Holden, US
• Michael R. Rosen · New York, US
• Richard B. Robinson · Cresskill, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Mar 21, 2008
• Grant date: May 1, 2012
• Expiry date: Aug 22, 2030

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01N2333/705
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

The present invention provides methods and compositions relating to the labeling of target cells with nanometer scale fluorescent semiconductors referred to as quantum dots (QDs). Specifically, a delivery system is disclosed based on the use of negatively charged QDs for delivery of a tracking fluorescent signal into the cytosol of target cells via a passive endocytosis-mediated delivery process. In a specific embodiment of the invention the target cell is a stem cell, preferably a mesenchymal stem cell (MSC). Such labeled MSCs provide a means for tracking the distribution and fate of MSCs that have been genetically engineered to express, for example, a hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated (“HCN”) channel and administered to a subject to create a biological pacemaker. The invention is based on the discovery that MSCs can be tracked in vitro for up to at least 6 weeks. Additionally, QDs delivered in vivo can be tracked for up to at least 8 weeks, thereby permitting for the first time, the complete 3-D reconstruction of the locations of all MSCs following administration into a host.