MRI detection of the malignant transformation of stem cells through reporter gene expression driven by a tumor-specific promoter

BACKGROUND: Existing evidence has shown that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can undergo malignant transformation, which is a serious limitation of MSC-based therapies. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor malignant transformation of MSCs via a noninvasive imaging method. Although reporter gene-based magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been successfully applied to longitudinally monitor MSCs, this technique cannot distinguish the cells before and after malignant transformation. Herein, we investigated the feasibility of using a tumor-specific promoter to drive reporter gene expression for MRI detection of the malignant transformation of MSCs. METHODS: The reporter gene ferritin heavy chain (FTH1) was modified by adding a promoter from the tumor-specific gene progression elevated gene-3 (PEG3) and transduced into MSCs to obtain MSCs-PEG3-FTH1. Cells were induced to undergo malignant transformation via indirect coculture with C6 glioma cells, and these transformed cells were named MTMSCs-PEG3-FTH1. Western blot analysis of FTH1 expression, Prussian blue staining and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to detect intracellular iron, and MRI to detect signal changes were performed before and after malignant transformation. Then, the cells before and after malignant transformation were inoculated subcutaneously into nude mice, and MRI was performed to observe the signal changes in the xenografts. RESULTS: After induction of malignant transformation, MTMSCs demonstrated tumor-like features in morphology, proliferation, migration, and invasion. FTH1 expression was significantly increased in MTMSCs-PEG3-FTH1 compared with MSCs-PEG3-FTH1. Prussian blue staining and TEM showed a large amount of iron particles in MTMSCs-PEG3-FTH1 but a minimal amount in MSCs-PEG3-FTH1. MRI demonstrated that the T2 value was significantly decreased in MTMSCs-PEG3-FTH1 compared with MSCs-PEG3-FTH1. In vivo, mass formation was observed in the MTMSCs-PEG3-FTH1 group but not the MSCs-PEG3-FTH1 group. T2-weighted MRI showed a significant signal decrease, which was correlated with iron accumulation in the tissue mass. CONCLUSIONS: We developed a novel MRI model based on FTH1 reporter gene expression driven by the tumor-specific PEG3 promoter. This approach could be applied to sensitively detect the occurrence of MSC malignant transformation.