Gadolinium-encapsulating iron oxide nanoprobe as activatable NMR/MRI contrast agent.

ABSTRACT: Herein we report a novel gadolinium-encapsulating iron oxide nanoparticle-based activatable NMR/MRI nanoprobe. In our design, Gd-DTPA is encapsulated within the poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) polymer coating of a superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle (IO-PAA), yielding a composite magnetic nanoprobe (IO-PAA-Gd-DTPA) with quenched longitudinal spin-lattice magnetic relaxation (T(1)). Upon release of the Gd-DTPA complex from the nanoprobe's polymeric coating in acidic media, an increase in the T(1) relaxation rate (1/T(1)) of the composite magnetic nanoprobe was observed, indicating a dequenching of the nanoprobe with a corresponding increase in the T(1)-weighted MRI signal. When a folate-conjugated nanoprobe was incubated in HeLa cells, a cancer cell line overexpressing folate receptors, an i

SUBMITTER: Santra S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3429787 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature