Anamaria Orza
Emory University School of Medicine, USA
Title: Shaped magnetic composites as targeted molecular imaging tools
Biography
Biography: Anamaria Orza
Abstract
In this study, we report on the synthesis and characterization of shaped iron oxide core palladium shell (Fe2O3-Pd) as three-modality image agents in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Computed Tomography (CT) and Photo-Acoustic (PAT) imaging. Four shapes were synthesized such as: triangular plates, tetrapods, pyramidal structures and pentagon shaped nanoparticles. We report for the first time their synthesis using an original approach by uniformly fusing multiple components and by controlling their structural (i.e., size, shell thickness, dimer shape) and physical characteristics (i.e., optical, and acoustic). To confer enhanced properties for efficient targeted capability, the surface of the nanoparticles was modified with (i) the amphiphilic di-block polymer and (ii) functionalized with the ligands targeting transferrin receptor (Tr). As a result, the newly created shaped nanoparticles were characterized via different optical and imaging techniques (HR-TEM, STEM, XPS, EDX, Z-potential, and UV-VIS). We show that the shaped Fe2O3-Pd nanoparticles are stable and biocompatible in given Fe concentrations range and display shaped control MRI/CT/PAT attenuation intensity. The attenuation intensity subsequently decreases as follows: tetrapods>pyramidal>pentagons>triangular plates. Moreover, these shaped nanoparticles enable targeting imaging of tumor cells that have a high expression of the transferrin receptor. These findings conclude that the designed Fe2O3-Pd are promising contrast agents for targeted MRI/CT/PAT molecular imaging.