title: Vascular targeting of nanoparticles for molecular imaging of diseased endothelium.
abstract: This review seeks to highlight the enormous potential of targeted nanoparticles for molecular imaging applications. Being the closest point-of-contact, circulating nanoparticles can gain direct access to targetable molecular markers of disease that appear on the endothelium. Further, nanoparticles are ideally suitable to vascular targeting due to geometrically enhanced multivalent attachment on the vascular target. This natural synergy between nanoparticles, vascular targeting and molecular imaging can provide new avenues for diagnosis and prognosis of disease with quantitative precision. In addition to the obvious applications of targeting molecular signatures of vascular diseases (e.g., atherosclerosis), deep-tissue diseases often manifest themselves by continuously altering and remodeling their neighboring blood vessels (e.g., cancer). Thus, the remodeled endothelium provides a wide range of targets for nanoparticles and molecular imaging. To demonstrate the potential of molecular imaging, we present a variety of nanoparticles designed for molecular imaging of cancer or atherosclerosis using different imaging modalities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA; Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
authors.forename: Prabhani U
authors.initials: PU
authors.lastname: Atukorale
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
authors.forename: Gil
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Covarrubias
authors.affiliation: Case Center for Imaging Research, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA; Department of Radiology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA; Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA; Case Center for Imaging Research, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA; Department of Radiology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA. Electronic address: stathis@case.edu.
authors.forename: Efstathios
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Karathanasis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D057054:Molecular Imaging; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000378:metabolism*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
keywords: Atherosclerosis; Cancer; Endothelium; MRI; Metastasis; PET; Vascular targeting