Uncovering the Magnetic Particle Imaging and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Features of Iron Oxide Nanocube Clusters.

Sahitya Kumar Avugadda,Sameera Wickramasinghe,Aidin Lak,Anna Cristina S. Samia,Teresa Pellegrino,Niccolò Silvestri,Ipsita Roy,Dina Niculaes,Minseon Ju,Simone Nitti

doi:10.3390/nano11010062

Sahitya Kumar Avugadda, Sameera Wickramasinghe + Show 8 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11010062

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Abstract

Multifunctional imaging nanoprobes continue to garner strong interest for their great potential in the detection and monitoring of cancer. In this study, we investigate a series of spatially arranged iron oxide nanocube-based clusters (i.e., chain-like dimer/trimer, centrosymmetric clusters, and enzymatically cleavable two-dimensional clusters) as magnetic particle imaging and magnetic resonance imaging probes. Our findings demonstrate that the short nanocube chain assemblies exhibit remarkable magnetic particle imaging signal enhancement with respect to the individually dispersed or the centrosymmetric cluster analogues. This result can be attributed to the beneficial uniaxial magnetic dipolar coupling occurring in the chain-like nanocube assembly. Moreover, we could effectively synthesize enzymatically cleavable two-dimensional nanocube clusters, which upon exposure to a lytic enzyme, exhibit a progressive increase in magnetic particle imaging signal at well-defined incubation time points. The increase in magnetic particle imaging signal can be used to trace the disassembly of the large planar clusters into smaller nanocube chains by enzymatic polymer degradation. These studies demonstrate that chain-like assemblies of iron oxide nanocubes offer the best spatial arrangement to improve magnetic particle imaging signals. In addition, the nanocube clusters synthesized in this study also show remarkable transverse magnetic resonance imaging relaxation signals. These nanoprobes, previously showcased for their outstanding heat performance in magnetic hyperthermia applications, have great potential as dual imaging probes and could be employed to improve the tumor thermo-therapeutic efficacy, while offering a readable magnetic signal for image mapping of material disassemblies at tumor sites.

Highlights

Detection and monitoring of biomarkers associated with cancer progression is a key factor in the effective diagnosis and treatment of the disease
To study the magnetic particle imaging (MPI) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) performance of the different nanocube clusters, we first prepared a series of nanoclusters with well-defined geometries using the core-shell FeO/Fe3 O4 nanocubes (18 ± 2 nm, Supplementary Figure S1), prepared following a thermal decomposition method [27]
This is due to the strong magnetic dipolar interactions occurring between single-phase Fe3 O4 iron oxide nanocubes (IONCs) during the solvent evaporation process that led to nanoparticle aggregation, even if the chosen nanocubes were as small as 13 ± 2 nm in cube-edge length

Summary

Introduction

Detection and monitoring of biomarkers associated with cancer progression is a key factor in the effective diagnosis and treatment of the disease. To date, there remains a growing interest in the use of nanoparticle-based platforms for cancer screening and as therapeutic tools and at the same time, as a complementary tool to improve diagnostic imaging methods and technologies. Among such technologies, prominent ones are magnetic particle imaging (MPI) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Nanomaterials 2021, 11, 62 an emerging imaging technique that allows the direct quantitative mapping of spatially distributed magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) with increased sensitivity and short image acquisition times [4,5]. In MRI, the MNPs such as superparamagnetic nanoparticles or their corresponding assemblies, are widely employed as contrast agents as they create dishomogeneous fields, which affects the spin-spin (T2 ) and spin-lattice (T1 )

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