title: In vivo targeted peripheral nerve imaging with a nerve-specific nanoscale magnetic resonance probe.
abstract: Neuroimaging plays a pivotal role in clinical practice. Currently, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasonography, and positron emission tomography (PET) are applied in the clinical setting as neuroimaging modalities. There is no optimal imaging modality for clinical peripheral nerve imaging even though fluorescence/bioluminescence imaging has been used for preclinical studies on the nervous system. Some studies have shown that molecular and cellular MRI (MCMRI) can be used to visualize and image the cellular and molecular level of the nervous system. Other studies revealed that there are different pathological/molecular changes in the proximal and distal sites after peripheral nerve injury (PNI). Therefore, we hypothesized that in vivo peripheral nerve targets can be imaged using MCMRI with specific MRI probes. Specific probes should have higher penetrability for the blood-nerve barrier (BNB) in vivo. Here, a functional nanometre MRI probe that is based on nerve-specific proteins as targets, specifically, using a molecular antibody (mAb) fragment conjugated to iron nanoparticles as an MRI probe, was constructed for further study. The MRI probe allows for imaging the peripheral nerve targets in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, First People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai 200080, China. Electronic address: zhenglinfeng.nu@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Linfeng
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, First People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai 200080, China. Electronic address: kanganli@sina.com.
authors.forename: Kangan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, General Hospital of Lanzhou Military Region, Lanzhou 730050, China. Electronic address: hanyuedong@126.com.
authors.forename: Yuedong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Xiangya Hospital, Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changsha 410008, China. Electronic address: cowhorsepig@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Dengfeng People's Hospital, Zhengzhou 452470, China. Electronic address: zhengsj2007@aliyun.com.
authors.forename: Sujuan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, First People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai 200080, China. Electronic address: guixiangzhang@sina.com.
authors.forename: Guixiang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000737:chemistry; D049428:Blood-Nerve Barrier; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000737:chemistry; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D009186:Myelin Sheath / Q000737:chemistry; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D017933:Peripheral Nervous System / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D007501:Iron