title: MRI relaxation properties of water-soluble apoferritin-encapsulated gadolinium oxide-hydroxide nanoparticles.
abstract: We have prepared water-soluble gadolinium oxide nanoparticles that show potential as MRI contrast agents. The particles were built into the apoferritin cavity and have an average size of 5 nm. After seven days a loss of 5% of Gd was detected compared with the as-prepared samples; after that the Gd remained constant and stabilized inside the apoferritin, indicating that the apoferritin capsid acts as a Gd store, avoiding metal delivery and consequent toxicity. The NMR longitudinal and transverse relaxivities resulted about 10 and 70 times higher than the ones of clinically approved paramagnetic Gd-chelates, thus indicating the possible route for synthesizing a novel class of MRI contrast agents.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, 18071, Spain.
authors.forename: Purificación
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sánchez
authors.forename: Elsa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Valero
authors.forename: Natividad
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gálvez
authors.forename: José M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Domínguez-Vera
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marinone
authors.forename: Giulio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Poletti
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Corti
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lascialfari
mesh_terms: D001052:Apoferritins / Q000737:chemistry*; D002214:Capsules / Q000737:chemistry; D005682:Gadolinium / Q000737:chemistry*; D006878:Hydroxides / Q000737:chemistry*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D010316:Particle Size; D012995:Solubility; D013499:Surface Properties; D013696:Temperature; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D002214:Capsules; D006878:Hydroxides; D014867:Water; C030581:gadolinium oxide; D001052:Apoferritins; C031356:hydroxide ion; D005682:Gadolinium