Labeling of mesenchymal stem cells by bioconjugated quantum dots

Long-term labeling of stem cells during self-replication and differentiation benefits investigations of development and tissue regeneration. We report the labeling of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) with RGD-conjugated quantum dots (QDs) during self-replication, and multilineage differentiations into osteogenic, chondrogenic, and adipogenic cells. QD-labeled hMSCs remained viable as unlabeled hMSCs from the same subpopulation. These findings suggest the use of bioconjugated QDs as an effective probe for long-term labeling of stem cells.