Ultrasensitive and multiplexed tracking of single cells using whole-body PET/CT.

ABSTRACT: In vivo molecular imaging tools are crucially important for elucidating how cells move through complex biological systems; however, achieving single-cell sensitivity over the entire body remains challenging. Here, we report a highly sensitive and multiplexed approach for tracking upward of 20 single cells simultaneously in the same subject using positron emission tomography (PET). The method relies on a statistical tracking algorithm (PEPT-EM) to achieve a sensitivity of 4 becquerel per cell and a streamlined workflow to reliably label single cells with over 50 becquerel per cell of ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). To demonstrate the potential of the method, we tracked the fate of more than 70 melanoma cells after intracardiac injection and found they primarily arrested in the smal

SUBMITTER: Nguyen HTM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11177933 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature