Gadolinium (Iii) Oxide Nanoparticles Coated With Folic Acid-Functionalized Poly(Β-Cyclodextrin-Co-Pentetic Acid) As a Biocompatible Targeted Nano-Contrast Agent for Cancer Diagnostic: In Vitro and in Vivo Studies Publisher Pubmed



Mortezazadeh T¹ ; Gholibegloo E² ; Alam NR^{3, 4} ; Dehghani S³ ; Haghgoo S⁵ ; Ghanaati H^{5, 6} ; Khoobi M^{2, 4}
Source: Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics# Biology and Medicine Published:2019

Abstract

Objectives: In this study, a novel targeted MRI contrast agent was developed by coating gadolinium oxide nanoparticles (Gd2O3 NPs) with β-cyclodextrin (CD)-based polyester and targeted by folic acid (FA). Materials and methods: The developed Gd2O3@PCD–FA MRI contrast agent was characterized and evaluated in relaxivity, in vitro cell targeting, cell toxicity, blood compatibility and in vivo tumor MR contrast enhancement. Results: In vitro cytotoxicity and hemolysis assays revealed that Gd2O3@PCD–FA NPs have no significant cytotoxicity after 24 and 48 h against normal human breast cell line (MCF-10A) at concentration of up to 50 µg Gd+3/mL and have high blood compatibility at concentration of up to 500 µg Gd+3/mL. In vitro MR imaging experiments showed that Gd2O3@PCD–FA NPs enable targeted contrast T1- and T2-weighted MR imaging of M109 as overexpressing folate receptor cells. Besides, the in vivo analysis indicated that the maximum contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of tumor in mice increased after injection of Gd2O3@PCD–FA up to 5.89 ± 1.3 within 1 h under T1-weighted imaging mode and reduced to 1.45 ± 0.44 after 12 h. While CNR increased up to maximum value of 1.98 ± 0.28 after injection of Gd2O3@PCD within 6 h and reduced to 1.12 ± 0.13 within 12 h. Conclusion: The results indicate the potential of Gd2O3@PCD–FA to serve as a novel targeted nano-contrast agent in MRI. © 2019, European Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and Biology (ESMRMB).