Stem cell therapies hold great promise for diseases such as stroke, where few effective treatment options exist. Clinical translation of experimental stem cell therapies requires the ability to monitor delivery and behaviour of cells non-invasively in-vivo with clinical imaging modalities such as MRI. This thesis presents the translation of established methods for labelling and imaging stem cells with specialized MRI systems to a more clinically relevant setting. A methodology for harvesting and labelling a cell population containing stem cells with iron oxide for detection with a clinical MRI system is presented and single cell detection is demonstrated in-vitro. The feasibility of detecting iron oxide labelled stem cells intravenously delivered in a rat model of stroke is tested. Results demonstrate that while MRI is highly sensitive to the presence and distribution of iron oxide containing cells in-vivo the true origin of these cells remains ambiguous with the current methodology.

Stem cell therapies hold great promise for diseases such as stroke, where few effective treatment options exist. Clinical translation of experimental stem cell therapies requires the ability to monitor delivery and behaviour of cells non-invasively in-vivo with clinical imaging modalities such as MRI. This thesis presents the translation of established methods for labelling and imaging stem cells with specialized MRI systems to a more clinically relevant setting. A methodology for harvesting and labelling a cell population containing stem cells with iron oxide for detection with a clinical MRI system is presented and single cell detection is demonstrated in-vitro. The feasibility of detecting iron oxide labelled stem cells intravenously delivered in a rat model of stroke is tested. Results demonstrate that while MRI is highly sensitive to the presence and distribution of iron oxide containing cells in-vivo the true origin of these cells remains ambiguous with the current methodology.

L'élaboration de nouvelles stratégies pour la détection de l'activité de la sclérose en plaques (SEP) est importante pour améliorer le diagnostic et le suivi de cette pathologie. Pour cela, nous avons utilisé des microparticules d'oxyde de fer (MPIO) couplées à un anticorps spécifique de la protéine P-sélectine ou de MAdCAM-1. Durant cette thèse, nous avons démontré que l’IRM moléculaire spécifique de la P-sélectine est capable de détecter les événements pathologiques qui se déroulent dans la moelle épinière de modèles murins de SEP chronique et récurrente-rémittente. De façon intéressante, nous montrons ici que cette technique d'IRM peut prédire l'apparition des poussées et des récupérations dans l’EAE. De plus, nous avons démontré que l’IRM moléculaire de MAdCAM-1 est capable de détecter l’inflammation intestinale dans des modèles de pathologies intestinales et de SEP. Les techniques novatrices d'IRM développées dans cette étude pourraient apporter de nouvelles avancées dans le diagnostic et le pronostic des rechutes de la SEP en ciblant l'activation vasculaire. Enfin, nous rapportons dans la dernière partie de cette thèse que le système glymphatique existe également dans le parenchyme de la moelle épinière de la souris. Dans l’EAE, l’activité de ce système est réduite dans la moelle épinière mais pas dans le cerveau ou le cervelet. Cette altération est associée à l'accumulation de cellules inflammatoires dans l'espace péri-vasculaire, à la désorganisation de l'AQP4 et entraine une forte augmentation du volume ventriculaire. Ces perturbations pourraient contribuer à la physiopathologie de la SEP. Nos résultats sont très prometteurs pour l'élaboration de nouvelles stratégies thérapeutiques. / Developing new strategies to detect disease activity in multiple sclerosis (MS) is essential to improve the diagnosis and follow-up of this pathology. To this aim, we used microparticles of iron oxide (MPIO) coupled to an antibody specific to the P-selectin or MAdCAM-1 protein. In this thesis, we establish that molecular MRI specific to P-selectin protein is able to detect the pathological events that take place in the spinal cord of chronic and relapsing-remitting models of MS in mice. Interestingly, we show here that this MRI technique can predict the apparition of relapses and recoveries in EAE. Moreover, we demonstrate that MRI specific to MAdCAM-1 protein is able to detect the gut inflammation that takes place in models of bowel diseases or MS. The innovative MRI techniques developed in this study could bring new advances in the diagnosis and prognosis of MS relapses by targeting gut inflammation. In the last part of this work, we report that the glymphatic system also exists in the spinal cord parenchyma of the mouse. In EAE, the activity of this system is reduced in the spinal cord but not in the brain or cerebellum. This alteration is associated to inflammatory cell accumulation within the perivascular space, AQP4 disorganization and leads to a large increase of ventricular volume. These disruptions could contribute to the MS pathophysiology. Our results hold significant promise for the development of new therapeutic strategies.

In cellular MRI, micrometer-sized iron oxide particles (MPIO) are a more sensitive contrast agent for tracking inflammatory-cell migration compared to ultra-small superparamagnetic iron oxide particles (USPIO). Inflammation, which promotes adverse tissue remodeling, is known to occur in the viable myocardium adjacent to the necrosed area after a myocardial infarction (MI). This study investigated the temporal relationship between inflammatory cell infiltration and cardiac function during tissue remodeling post-MI using MPIO-enhanced MRI. The MPIO were injected into 7 C57Bl/6 mice (MI+MPIO group) via intravenous administration. The MI was induced 7 days post-MPIO injection. As control groups, 7 mice (Sham+MPIO group) underwent sham-operated surgery without myocardial injury post-MPIO injection and another 6 mice (MI-MPIO group) underwent MI surgery without MPIO injection. MRIs performed post-MI showed a significant signal attenuation at the MI zone in the MI+MPIO group compared to the control groups. The findings suggested that the inflammatory cells containing MPIO infiltrated into the myocardial injury site. Cardiac function was also measured and correlated with the labeled-cell infiltration at the MI site. This study demonstrated a noninvasive technique for monitoring inflammatory cell migration using the MPIO contrast agent. This MPIO-enhanced MRI technique could provide additional insight concerning cardiac disease progression that would improve therapeutic treatment for MI patients.