2.5. In vivo dynamics of intravenously injected cells

BM‐MSCs were infected with Akaluc/pcDNA3 lentivirus, 47 and then SSEA‐3(+)‐Muse and SSEA‐3(−)‐MSCs (named “non‐Muse cells”) were separated by fluorescence‐activated cell sorting. After separation, the Akaluc‐labeled Muse and non‐Muse cells were mixed at a ratio of 7:3 to mimic the ratio of Muse cells in the Muse group.

At day 3, the rats were administered 1 mg AkaLumine‐HCl (6.6 mM, Cat. #035‐22991, FUJIFILM Wako Pure Chemical Corporation) in distilled water. Each organ was removed and immersed in 500 µM AkaLumine‐HCl in normal saline, and evaluated using an IVIS Spectrum CT in vivo imaging system (Perkin Elmer).