title: Octapod iron oxide nanoparticles as high-performance T₂ contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging.
abstract: Spherical superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles have been developed as T2-negative contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging in clinical use because of their biocompatibility and ease of synthesis; however, they exhibit relatively low transverse relaxivity. Here we report a new strategy to achieve high transverse relaxivity by controlling the morphology of iron oxide nanoparticles. We successfully fabricate size-controllable octapod iron oxide nanoparticles by introducing chloride anions. The octapod iron oxide nanoparticles (edge length of 30 nm) exhibit an ultrahigh transverse relaxivity value (679.3 ± 30 mM(-1) s(-1)), indicating that these octapod iron oxide nanoparticles are much more effective T2 contrast agents for in vivo imaging and small tumour detection in comparison with conventional iron oxide nanoparticles, which holds great promise for highly sensitive, early stage and accurate detection of cancer in the clinic.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, The Key Laboratory for Chemical Biology of Fujian Province, and Department of Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China.
authors.forename: Zhenghuan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Zijian
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Jianfeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.forename: Zhenyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Xiaoqin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chi
authors.forename: Kaiyuan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ni
authors.forename: Ruifang
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xiaoyuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Zhong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jinhao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003287:Contrast Media; D005290:Ferric Compounds; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D005290:Ferric Compounds; C000499:ferric oxide