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An intelligent T1–T2 switchable MRI contrast agent for the non-invasive identification of vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques
- Source :
- Nanoscale. 13:6461-6474
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), 2021.
-
Abstract
- Unlike stable atherosclerotic plaques, vulnerable plaques are very likely to cause serious cardio-cerebrovascular diseases. Meanwhile, how to non-invasively identify vulnerable plaques at early stages has been an urgent but challenging problem in clinical practices. Here, we propose a macrophage-targeted and in situ stimuli-triggered T1–T2 switchable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) nanoprobe for the non-invasive diagnosis of vulnerable plaques. Precisely, single-dispersed iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) modified with hyaluronic acid (HA), denoted as IONP-HP, show macrophage targetability and T1 MRI enhancement (r2/r1 = 3.415). Triggered by the low pH environment of macrophage lysosomes, the single-dispersed IONP-HP transforms into a cluster analogue, which exhibits T2 MRI enhancement (r2/r1 = 13.326). Furthermore, an in vivo switch of T1–T2 enhancement modes shows that the vulnerable plaques exhibit strong T1 enhancement after intravenous administration of the nanoprobe, followed by a switch to T2 enhancement after 9 h. In contrast, stable plaques show only slight T1 enhancement but without T2 enhancement. It is therefore imperative that the intelligent and novel nanoplatform proposed in this study achieves a substantial non-invasive diagnosis of vulnerable plaques by means of a facile but effective T1–T2 switchable process, which will significantly contribute to the application of materials science in solving clinical problems.
- Subjects :
- medicine.diagnostic_test
MRI contrast agent
Non invasive
Nanoprobe
Magnetic resonance imaging
02 engineering and technology
030204 cardiovascular system & hematology
021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology
03 medical and health sciences
chemistry.chemical_compound
0302 clinical medicine
chemistry
medicine
General Materials Science
0210 nano-technology
Iron oxide nanoparticles
Biomedical engineering
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 20403372 and 20403364
- Volume :
- 13
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Nanoscale
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........5140c092cd8389b06a43261860ff78bf