title: Small is Smarter: Nano MRI Contrast Agents - Advantages and Recent Achievements.
abstract: Many challenges for advanced sensitive and noninvasive clinical diagnostic imaging remain unmatched. In particular, the great potential of magnetic nano-probes is intensively discussed to further improve the performance of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), especially for cancer diagnosis. Based on recent achievements, here the concepts of magnetic nanoparticle-based MRI contrast agents and tumor-specific imaging probes are critically summarized. Advances in their synthesis, biocompatible chemical and biofunctional surface modifications, and current strategies for further developing them into multimodality imaging probes are discussed. In addition, how engineered versus unintended surface coatings such as protein coronas affect the biocompatibility and performance of MRI nano-probes is also considered. To stimulate progress in the field, future strategies and relevant challenges that still need to be resolved in the field conclude this review.
authors.affiliation: College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China.|Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Bei Yi Jie 2, Zhong Guan Cun, Beijing, 100190, China.
authors.forename: Zhenyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Bei Yi Jie 2, Zhong Guan Cun, Beijing, 100190, China.
authors.forename: Tiancong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Bei Yi Jie 2, Zhong Guan Cun, Beijing, 100190, China.
authors.forename: Enyu
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Nanobiomedicine, ENT/University Medical Center of Mainz, Langenbeckstr. 1, 55101, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Dominic
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Docter
authors.affiliation: College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China.
authors.forename: Wensheng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Nanobiomedicine, ENT/University Medical Center of Mainz, Langenbeckstr. 1, 55101, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Roland H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Stauber
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Bei Yi Jie 2, Zhong Guan Cun, Beijing, 100190, China.
authors.forename: Mingyuan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003287:Contrast Media / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D060328:Magnetic Phenomena; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D036103:Nanotechnology; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media
keywords: chemical synthesis; magnetic nanoparticles; protein coronas; surface modifications; tumor imaging