Conjugation Magnetic PAEEP-PLLA Nanoparticles with Lactoferrin as a Specific Targeting MRI Contrast Agent for Detection of Brain Glioma in Rats.
The diagnosis of malignant brain gliomas is largely based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with contrast agents. In recent years, nano-sized contrast agents have been developed for improved MRI diagnosis. In this study, oleylamine-coated Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (OAM-MNPs) were synthesized with thermal decomposition method and encapsulated in novel amphiphilic poly(aminoethyl ethylene phosphate)/poly(L-lactide) (PAEEP-PLLA) copolymer nanoparticles. The OAM-MNP-loaded PAEEP-PLLA nanoparticles (M-PAEEP-PLLA-NPs) were further conjugated with lactoferrin (Lf) for glioma tumor targeting. The Lf-conjugated M-PAEEP-PLLA-NPs (Lf-M-PAEEP-PLLA-NPs) were characterized by photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The average size of OAM-MNPs, M-PAEEP-PLLA-NPs, and Lf-M-PAEEP-PLLA-NPs were 8.6 ± 0.3, 165.7 ± 0.6, and 218.2 ± 0.4 nm, with polydispersity index (PDI) of 0.185 ± 0.023, 0.192 ± 0.021, and 0.224 ± 0.036, respectively. TEM imaging showed that OAM-MNPs were monodisperse and encapsulated in Lf-M-PAEEP-PLLA-NPs. TGA analysis showed that the content of iron oxide nanoparticles was 92.8 % in OAM-MNPs and 45.2 % in Lf-M-PAEEP-PLLA-NPs. VSM results indicated that both OAM-MNPs and Lf-M-PAEEP-PLLA-NPs were superparamagnetic, and the saturated magnetic intensity were 77.1 and 74.8 emu/g Fe. Lf-M-PAEEP-PLLA-NPs exhibited good biocompatibility in cytotoxicity assay. The high cellular uptake of Lf-M-PAEEP-PLLA-NPs in C6 cells indicated that Lf provided effective targeting for the brain tumor cells. The T 2 relaxation rate (r 2) of M-PAEEP-PLLA-NPs and Lf-M-PAEEP-PLLA-NPs were calculated to be 167.2 and 151.3 mM(-1) s(-1). In MRI on Wistar rat-bearing glioma tumor, significant contrast enhancement could clearly appear at 4 h after injection and last 48 h. Prussian blue staining of the section clearly showed the retention of Lf-M-PAEEP-PLLA-NPs in tumor tissues. The results from the in vitro and in vivo MRI indicated that Lf-M-PAEEP-PLLA-NPs possessed strong, long-lasting, tumor targeting, and enhanced tumor MRI contrast ability. Lf-M-PAEEP-PLLA-NPs represent a promising nano-sized MRI contrast agent for brain glioma targeting MRI.
College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, 430074, China.|College of Pharmacy, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning, Hubei, China.
Binhua
B
Luo
Department of Radiology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1277 Jiefang Avenue, Wuhan, 430022, People's Republic of China.
Siqi
S
Wang
College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, 430074, China.|National Engineering Research Center for Nanomedicine, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Rong
R
Rao
College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, 430074, China.|National Engineering Research Center for Nanomedicine, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Xuhan
X
Liu
Department of Radiology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1277 Jiefang Avenue, Wuhan, 430022, People's Republic of China. xuhaibo1120@hotmail.com.|Department of Radiology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China. xuhaibo1120@hotmail.com.
Haibo
H
Xu
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, USA.
Yun
Y
Wu
College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, 430074, China.|National Engineering Research Center for Nanomedicine, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Xiangliang
X
Yang
College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, 430074, China. wliu@hust.edu.cn.|National Engineering Research Center for Nanomedicine, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. wliu@hust.edu.cn.
Wei
W
Liu
Brain glioma targeting; Lactoferrin; MRI contrast agent; Oleylamine-coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles; Poly(aminoethyl ethylene phosphate)/poly (L-lactide) copolymer; Superparamagnetic