Abstract
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents based on chitosan derivatives have great potential for diagnosing diseases. However, stable tumor-targeted MRI contrast agents using micelles prepared from high molecular weight chitosan derivatives are seldom reported. In this study, we developed a novel tumor-targeted MRI vehicle via superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) encapsulated in self-aggregating polymeric folate-conjugated N-palmitoyl chitosan (FAPLCS) micelles. The tumor-targeting ability of FAPLCS/SPIONs was demonstrated in vitro and in vivo. The results of dynamic light scattering experiments showed that the micelles had a relatively narrow size distribution (136.60±3.90 nm) and excellent stability. FAPLCS/SPIONs showed low cytotoxicity and excellent biocompatibility in cellular toxicity tests. Both in vitro and in vivo studies demonstrated that FAPLCS/SPIONs bound specifically to folate receptor-positive HeLa cells, and that FAPLCS/SPIONs accumulated predominantly in established HeLa-derived tumors in mice. The signal intensities of T2-weighted images in established HeLa-derived tumors were reduced dramatically after intravenous micelle administration. Our study indicates that FAPLCS/SPION micelles can potentially serve as safe and effective MRI contrast agents for detecting tumors that overexpress folate receptors.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1155-1172 |
Number of pages | 18 |
Journal | International journal of nanomedicine |
Volume | 10 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 5 2015 |
Keywords
- Folate receptors
- Magnetic resonance imaging
- N-palmitoyl chitosan
- Polymeric micelles
- Superparamagnetic iron oxide
- Tumor-targeted MRI
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biophysics
- Bioengineering
- Biomaterials
- Pharmaceutical Science
- Drug Discovery
- Organic Chemistry