Gene That Magnetically Labels Cells Shows Potential As Imaging Tool

"We have found a very simple way to make mammalian cells have a magnetic signature," says Hu, who is director of Emory's Biomedical Imaging Technology Center and a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar.

The gene MagA comes from magnetotactic bacteria, which can sense the Earth's magnetic field. It encodes a protein that transports dissolved iron across cell membranes. When put into animal cells, MagA triggers the accumulation of lumps of magnetite (iron oxide) a few nanometers wide, making the cells prominently visible under magnetic resonance imaging.

Although Hu's team tested MagA's effects in human kidney cells, Hu says it will probably be most useful in transgenic animals. He and his colleagues found that MagA appears to be nontoxic.

"MagA can be thought of as the equivalent of green fluorescent protein, but for magnetic resonance imaging," he says.

Scientists around the world use green fluorescent protein, originally found in jellyfish, to map the connections of the nervous system or follow the migration of stem cells around the body, for example. Hu says he anticipates that MagA could find similar applications, with the advantage that magnetic fields can penetrate tissues more easily than light.

The paper's first author is Omar Zurkiya, MD, PhD, with contributions from Anthony Chan, PhD, DVM, assistant research professor at Yerkes National Primate Research Center and assistant professor of human genetics in Emory University School of Medicine.

The research was funded by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering of the National Institutes of Health; the Georgia Research Alliance; and the Alzheimer Research Consortium.