Development of MR imaging technology and cell labeling contrast agents for tracking the biokinetics of dendritic cells.

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This study aimed to establish a non-invasive MR imaging technique for analyzing biodistribution of dendritic cells (DCs), which are known to play an important role in immunotherapy for cancer. Focusing on manganese as a new contrast agent, we synthesized a compound of manganese-chelate dextran (dex-Mn) and confirmed the agent was incorporated into DCs: however, it was not detected by MR imaging. Hence, we then synthesized a compound of gadolinium-chelate dextran (dex-Gd) and studied. As a result, dex-Gd-labeled DCs that were injected into mice footpads were visualized in the popliteal lymph nodes by TI-weighted MR imaging.