Three-dimensional spatiotemporal tracking of fluorine-18 radiolabeled yeast cells via positron emission particle tracking

PLoS One. 2017 Jul 6;12(7):e0180503. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0180503. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

A method for Positron Emission Particle Tracking (PEPT) based on optical feature point identification techniques is demonstrated for use in low activity tracking experiments. A population of yeast cells of approximately 125,000 members is activated to roughly 55 Bq/cell by 18F uptake. An in vitro particle tracking experiment is performed with nearly 20 of these cells after decay to 32 Bq/cell. These cells are successfully identified and tracked simultaneously in this experiment. This work extends the applicability of PEPT as a cell tracking method by allowing a number of cells to be tracked together, and demonstrating tracking for very low activity tracers.

MeSH terms

  • Fluorine Radioisotopes / metabolism*
  • Positron-Emission Tomography / methods*
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae / metabolism*

Substances

  • Fluorine Radioisotopes