Imaging of human stem cell-derived dopamine grafts correlates with behavioural recovery and reveals microstructural brain changes.

Cell therapy is a promising therapeutic intervention for Parkinson's disease (PD) and is currently undergoing safety and efficacy testing in clinical trials worldwide. The goals of this project were (1) to determine whether [F]Fluorodopa or [F]Fallypride imaging correlates robustly with functional recovery; and (2) to explore whether diffusion-weighted MR imaging (DWI) could detect graft-induced cytoarchitectural changes in the host brain. hfVM and hESC-derived dopamine precursor cells were transplanted into the 6-OHDA lesioned rat striatum.