Background: Development of new long-circulating contrast agents for computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of different biological systems still remains a great challenge. Here, we report the synthesis of folic acid (FA)-targeted CuFeSe₂ nano-contrast agent for CT and MRI imaging in vitro and in vivo.
Methods and Results: In our study, CuFeSe₂ was fabricated through a facile and green aqueous reaction and then further aminated through silanization. The amine-functionalized CuFeSe₂-NH₂ nanoparticles enable the covalent conjugation of folate-conjugated polyethylene glycol (FA-PEG-COOH) as a targeting ligand onto their surface, which could improve the dispersion and endue the targetability of nanoparticles, respectively. The formed multifunctional CuFeSe₂-PEG-FA nanoparticles were characterized via different techniques, which exhibited outstanding dispersion, good biocompatibility and excellent FA-targeted capability. Meanwhile, the nanoparticles were quite safe in the given concentration range as confirmed by in vitro and in vivo toxicity assay. Importantly, CuFeSe₂-PEG-FA nanoparticles were successfully applied in CT/MRI dual-modality imaging in vitro and in vivo, which showed a better imaging performance and targeted capability.
Conclusion: Therefore, the constructed CuFeSe₂-PEG-FA nanoparticles have a great potential as an efficient contrast agent for dual-modality imaging of different biological systems.



中文翻译：

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叶酸共轭 CuFeSe2 纳米颗粒用于体内肿瘤的靶向 T2 加权磁共振成像和计算机断层扫描

背景：开发用于不同生物系统的计算机断层扫描 (CT) 和磁共振成像 (MRI) 的新型长循环造影剂仍然是一个巨大的挑战。在这里，我们报告了用于体外和体内 CT 和 MRI 成像的叶酸 (FA) 靶向 CuFeSe _{2纳米造影剂的合成。}
方法和结果：在我们的研究中，CuFeSe ₂通过一种简便的绿色水反应制备，然后通过硅烷化进一步胺化。胺功能化的CuFeSe ₂ -NH ₂纳米粒子能够将叶酸共轭聚乙二醇（FA-PEG-COOH）作为靶向配体共价结合到其表面，这可以分别改善纳米粒子的分散性并赋予其靶向性。所形成的多功能CuFeSe ₂ -PEG-FA纳米粒子通过不同的技术表征，表现出优异的分散性、良好的生物相容性和优异的FA靶向能力。同时，通过体外和体内毒性试验证实，纳米颗粒在给定浓度范围内是相当安全的。重要的是，CuFeSe ₂ -PEG-FA纳米颗粒成功应用于体外和体内CT/MRI双模态成像，显示出更好的成像性能和靶向能力。
结论：因此，所构建的CuFeSe ₂ -PEG-FA纳米粒子作为一种有效的造影剂具有巨大的潜力，可用于不同生物系统的双模态成像。