Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle micelles stabilized by recombinant oleosin for targeted magnetic resonance imaging.

Recombinant surfactants present a new platform for stabilizing and targeting nanoparticle imaging agents. Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle-loaded micelles for MRI contrast are stabilized by an engineered variant of the naturally occurring protein oleosin and targeted using a Her2/neu affibody-oleosin fusion. The recombinant oleosin platform allows simple targeting and the ability to easily swap the ligand for numerous targets.