@article {Deroose244P, author = {Christophe Deroose and Veerle Reumers and Rik Gijsbers and Olga Krylychkina and Martine Geraerts and Zeger Debyser and Veerle Baekelandt and Luc Mortelmans}, title = {Quantitative bioluminescence imaging of the migration of endogenous neural stem cells in mouse brain}, volume = {48}, number = {supplement 2}, pages = {244P--244P}, year = {2007}, publisher = {Society of Nuclear Medicine}, abstract = {1135 Objectives: The adult mammalian brain hosts endogenous neural stem cells (eNSC) in restricted areas such as the subventricular zone (SVZ). Their role in normal and pathological conditions is the subject of intense study. eNSC in the SVZ give rise to progenitor cells which generate neuroblasts that migrate to the olfactory bulb (OB). We previously showed stable gene transfer in adult eNSC in vivo by injection of lentiviral vectors (LV) into the SVZ. We aimed to develop a bioluminescence imaging (BLI) strategy for non-invasive detection and quantification of the migration of neuroblasts to the OB by LV marking of the eNSC with the firefly luciferase (Fluc) gene. Methods: We used a LV encoding both green fluorescent protein (eGFP) and Fluc. LV was stereotactically injected in the SVZ or the OB of C57Bl/6 mice. Mice were scanned with an IVIS 100 on day 3 and week 1, 15 and 30 after injection. Mice were sacrificed at these time points and ex vivo BLI was performed. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed for eGFP and the number of positive cells in the OB was stereologically counted. Results: In the OB injected mice the BLI signal was located paramedian between the eyes. In the SVZ injected mice, the scans after 3 and 7 days showed no distinct focus at the OB projection site. At 15 weeks a clear focus appeared at this site and this focus was still present at 30 weeks. The OB/SVZ ratio showed an increase at week 15 and week 30 compared to day 3 (p\<0.05). Ex vivo BLI of the OB showed an increase of Fluc activity in time. eGFP cell counts in the OB confirmed this result. Both the in vivo BLI signal (R2=0.82) and the ex-vivo Fluc activity (R2=0.81) showed a strong linear correlation with the number of eGFP positive cells. Conclusions: BLI allows quantitative detection of the migration of neuroblasts after transduction of eNSC in the SVZ. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to detect offspring of stably labelled eNSC with in vivo whole body imaging. This technique can be used for non-invasive study of eNSC and for the development of (S)PET reporter gene-based eNSC imaging.}, issn = {0161-5505}, URL = {https://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/48/supplement_2/244P.3}, eprint = {https://jnm.snmjournals.org/content}, journal = {Journal of Nuclear Medicine} }