Issue 39, 2017

Geometrical confinement directed albumin-based nanoprobes as enhanced T1 contrast agents for tumor imaging

Abstract

There is an urgent demand for the development of new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents (CAs) with high T1 contrast ability and good biocompatibility. Herein, we report a novel albumin-based nanoprobe loaded with ibuprofen-modified gadolinium chelates, named Ibu-Gd–BSA nanoparticles (NPs). The interfacial pore structure among the albumin molecules endows the Ibu-Gd–BSA NPs with geometrical confinement, which could prolong the rotational correlation time (τR) of CAs and the diffusion correlation time (τD) of water molecules trapped within the pores. As a result, the Ibu-Gd–BSA NPs exhibited an extremely high relaxivity of 48.9 mM−1 s−1, which is about 9 times higher than that of the clinical contrast agent Gd-DOTA (Dotarem®). In addition, the Ibu-Gd–BSA NPs showed good biocompatibility in vitro and in vivo due to the intrinsically biocompatible property of each component. Moreover, the Ibu-Gd–BSA NPs showed much longer blood circulation half-life and higher accumulation in tumors due to the enhanced permeability and retention effect compared to small molecular CAs. In vivo T1-weighted MR imaging confirmed that Ibu-Gd–BSA NPs could serve as an optimal candidate for sensitive tumor imaging. This study provides a facile strategy to assemble geometrically confined albumin-based nanoparticles as T1 CAs with high biocompatibility and enhanced contrast ability, which have great potential for diverse uses in biomedical imaging and disease detection.

Graphical abstract: Geometrical confinement directed albumin-based nanoprobes as enhanced T1 contrast agents for tumor imaging

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
27 Jul 2017
Accepted
18 Sep 2017
First published
19 Sep 2017

J. Mater. Chem. B, 2017,5, 8004-8012

Geometrical confinement directed albumin-based nanoprobes as enhanced T1 contrast agents for tumor imaging

L. Wang, H. Lin, L. Ma, C. Sun, J. Huang, A. Li, T. Zhao, Z. Chen and J. Gao, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2017, 5, 8004 DOI: 10.1039/C7TB02005H

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