Targeted MR Imaging Adopting T1-Weighted Ultra-Small Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for Early Hepatocellular Carcinoma: An and Study / 中国医学科学杂志(英文版)

ABSTRACT

Objective The purpose of this study was to produce an arginylglycylaspartic acid (RGD) peptide-modified ultra-small superparamagnetic iron oxide (FeO) nanoparticles (NPs) for targeted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells and verify its utility as a T1 positive MRI imaging contrast agent and .Methods The carboxylated FeO NPs stabilized with sodium citrate were conjugated with polyethylene glycol (PEG)-linked RGD nanoparticles to form a novel target contrast agent FeO-PEG-RGD NPs. The specificity of FeO-PEG-RGD to bind RGD receptor was investigated by HepG2 cellular uptake and cell MR imaging, and by MR imaging of subcutaneous HepG2 tumors of nude mice.Results The formed FeO-PEG-RGD NPs displayed good biocompatibility, and the ultrahigh r1 relaxivity was 1.37 mM S . The synthesized FeO-PEG-RGD NPs were demonstrated spherical-like with an approximate diameter of 2.7 nm in similar size. The targeting effect to HepG2 cells was confirmed by cellular uptake and cell MR imaging. The MR imaging of nude mice demonstrated that the MR signal intensity enhancement of HepG2 tumor in FeO-PEG-RGD NPs treated mice was significantly higher than in mice treated with non-targeted FeO-mPEG NPs at the same post-administration time point. Conclusion The results indicate that the FeO-PEG-RGD particles have potential utility as T1 positive contrast agent in targeted MR imaging.