Abstract
Ultrasmall nanoparticles are potential candidates for application as high-performance imaging agents. Herein, we present the synthesis and characterization of folic acid (FA)-conjugated polyacrylic acid (PAA)-coated MnO nanoparticles with an average particle diameter of 2.7 nm. FA conferred cancer-targeting ability, while PAA conferred good colloidal stability and low cellular cytotoxicity on the FA-PAA-coated MnO nanoparticles. Further, the nanoparticles exhibited a high relaxivity (r1) value of 9.3 s−1mM−1 (r2/r1 = 2.2). Their application potential as cancer-targeting T1 magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents was confirmed by their enhanced T1 contrast enhancements at the brain cancer (U87MG) site upon intravenous administration to mice tails.
Highlights
Cancer is a deadly disease with high recurrence and mortality rates [1]
To prepare folic acid (FA)-polyacrylic acid (PAA)-trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), 2 mL of TFA was added to the yellow precipitate obtained above in a 100-mL three-neck round-bottom flask, and the solution was magnetically stirred for 3 h at room temperature until it dissolved in TFA
The FA-PAA-coated manganese oxide (MnO) nanoparticles exhibited these properties owing to the hydrophilic and biocompatible PAA polymers grafted on their surfaces
Summary
Cancer is a deadly disease with high recurrence and mortality rates [1]. An accurate cancer diagnosis at the early stages is vital for the patient’s timely treatment. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the clinically relevant and common method for preoperatively estimating the prognosis of a cancer patient [2,3]. Contrast agents are generally used in MRI [4,5], most commonly Gd-chelates [6,7,8], to further improve the cancer diagnosis. Ultrasmall manganese oxide (MnO) nanoparticles are receiving special research interest due to their potential applicability as contrast agents in positive (T1) MRI [11,12]. The high pure spin magnetic moment (S = 5/2) of Mn2+ can strongly induce longitudinal water proton spin relaxations since slow electron spin motions match well with proton spin relaxations [7,8]. MnCl2 has been approved for use in animals as a T1 MRI contrast agent by the United States Food and Drug Administration [12,15]
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