Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Identifies Neural Progenitor Cells in the Live Human Brain

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 318; no. 5852; pp. 980 - 985
• Main Authors: Manganas, Louis N, Zhang, Xueying, Li, Yao, Hazel, Raphael D, Smith, S. David, Wagshul, Mark E, Henn, Fritz, Benveniste, Helene, Djurić, Petar M, Enikolopov, Grigori, Maletić-Savatić, Mirjana
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Association for the Advancement of Science 09.11.2007
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Adult Stem Cells - chemistry; Adult Stem Cells - cytology; Algorithms; Animals; Biomarkers - analysis; Biomarkers - chemistry; Brain - cytology; Brain - embryology; Brain Chemistry; Cell Differentiation; Child; Embryonic Stem Cells - chemistry; Embryonic Stem Cells - cytology; Fatty Acids - analysis; Fatty Acids - chemistry; Female; Hippocampus - chemistry; Hippocampus - cytology; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy - methods; Male; Mice; Neurons - chemistry; Neurons - cytology; Protons; Rats; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; Stem Cells - chemistry; Stem Cells - cytology
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1147851

The identification of neural stem and progenitor cells (NPCs) by in vivo brain imaging could have important implications for diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic purposes. We describe a metabolic biomarker for the detection and quantification of NPCs in the human brain in vivo. We used proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to identify and characterize a biomarker in which NPCs are enriched and demonstrated its use as a reference for monitoring neurogenesis. To detect low concentrations of NPCs in vivo, we developed a signal processing method that enabled the use of magnetic resonance spectroscopy for the analysis of the NPC biomarker in both the rodent brain and the hippocampus of live humans. Our findings thus open the possibility of investigating the role of NPCs and neurogenesis in a wide variety of human brain disorders.