title: PEG-b-AGE Polymer Coated Magnetic Nanoparticle Probes with Facile Functionalization and Anti-fouling Properties for Reducing Non-specific Uptake and Improving Biomarker Targeting.
abstract: Non-specific surface adsorption of bio-macromolecules (e.g. proteins) on nanoparticles, known as biofouling, and the uptake of nanoparticles by the mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS) and reticuloendothelial system (RES) lead to substantial reduction in the efficiency of target-directed imaging and delivery in biomedical applications of engineered nanomaterialsin vitroandin vivo. In this work, a novel copolymer consisting of blocks of poly ethylene glycol and allyl glycidyl ether (PEG-b-AGE) was developed for coating magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) to reduce non-specific protein adhesion that leads to formation of "protein corona" and uptake by macrophages. The facile surface functionalization was demonstrated by using targeting ligands of a small peptide of RGD or a whole protein of transferrin (Tf). The PEG-b-AGE coated IONPs exhibited anti-biofouling properties with significantly reduced protein corona formation and non-specific uptake by macrophages before and after the surface functionalization, thus improving targeting of RGD-conjugated PEG-b-AGE coated IONPs to integrins in U87MG glioblastoma and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells that overexpress αvβ3integrins, and Tf-conjugated PEG-b-AGE coated IONPs to transferrin receptor (TfR) in D556 and Daoy medulloblastoma cancer cells with high overexpression of transferrin receptor, compared to respective control cell lines. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of cancer cells treated with targeted IONPs with or without anti-biofouling PEG-b-AGE coating polymers demonstrated the target specific MRI contrast change using anti-biofouling PEG-b-AGE coated IONP with minimal off-targeted background compared to the IONPs without anti-biofouling coating, promising the highly efficient active targeting of nanoparticle imaging probes and drug delivery systems and potential applications of imaging quantification of targeted biomarkers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
authors.forename: Yuancheng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.|Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Run
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
authors.forename: Liya
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
authors.forename: Guojun
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.|Department of Radiology, Nanjing University College of Medicine and Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Zhengyang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
authors.forename: Tobey
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: MacDonald
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
authors.forename: Lily
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mao