title: Magneto-plasmonic Au-Fe alloy nanoparticles designed for multimodal SERS-MRI-CT imaging.
abstract: Diagnostic approaches based on multimodal imaging are needed for accurate selection of the therapeutic regimens in several diseases, although the dose of administered contrast drugs must be reduced to minimize side effects. Therefore, large efforts are deployed in the development of multimodal contrast agents (MCAs) that permit the complementary visualization of the same diseased area with different sensitivity and different spatial resolution by applying multiple diagnostic techniques. Ideally, MCAs should also allow imaging of diseased tissues with high spatial resolution during surgical interventions. Here a new system based on multifunctional Au-Fe alloy nanoparticles designed to satisfy the main requirements of an ideal MCA is reported and their biocompatibility and imaging capability are described. The MCAs show easy and versatile surface conjugation with thiolated molecules, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed X-ray tomography (CT) signals for anatomical and physiological information (i.e., diagnostic and prognostic imaging), large Raman signals amplified by surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) for high sensitivity and high resolution intrasurgical imaging, biocompatibility, exploitability for in vivo use and capability of selective accumulation in tumors by enhanced permeability and retention effect. Taken together, these results show that Au-Fe nanoalloys are excellent candidates as multimodal MRI-CT-SERS imaging agents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy. vincenzo.amendola@unipd.it
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Amendola
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Scaramuzza
authors.forename: Lucio
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Litti
authors.forename: Moreno
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Meneghetti
authors.forename: Gaia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zuccolotto
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rosato
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nicolato
authors.forename: Pasquina
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Marzola
authors.forename: Giulio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fracasso
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Anselmi
authors.forename: Marcella
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pinto
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Colombatti
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003287:Contrast Media / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D006047:Gold Alloys / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D058085:Iron Compounds / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D008422:Materials Testing; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D016343:Monitoring, Intraoperative / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D064847:Multimodal Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D020298:U937 Cells
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D006047:Gold Alloys; D058085:Iron Compounds; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles
keywords: CT; MRI; SERS; bioimaging; nanoparticles