Medical Science Laboratory, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy.
Nanotechnology. 2011 Mar 4;22(9):095706. doi: 10.1088/0957-4484/22/9/095706. Epub 2011 Jan 27.
In this study we investigate the potential of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with low metal impurities (2.57% iron) as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents. Taking into account probable aggregation at high MWCNTs concentration analysis shows that the r(2) relaxivity of MWCNTs in 1% agarose gels at 19 °C is 564 ± 41 s(-1) mM(-1); this is attributed to both the presence of iron oxide impurities and also to the carbon MWCNT structure itself. Stem cells were labelled with MWCNTs to demonstrate the effectiveness of MWCNTs as MRI contrast agents for cellular MRI. The MWCNTs did not impair cell viability or proliferation. These results suggest that the MRI contrast agent properties of the MWCNTs could be used in vivo for stem cell tracking/imaging and during MWCNT-mediated targeted electro-chemotherapy of tumours.
在这项研究中，我们研究了低金属杂质（2.57%铁）的多壁碳纳米管（MWCNTs）作为磁共振成像（MRI）造影剂的潜力。考虑到在高 MWCNTs 浓度下可能发生的聚集，分析表明在 19°C 的 1%琼脂糖凝胶中，MWCNTs 的 r(2)弛豫率为 564±41 s(-1) mM(-1)；这归因于氧化铁杂质的存在，也归因于碳 MWCNT 结构本身。用 MWCNTs 标记干细胞，以证明 MWCNTs 作为 MRI 造影剂用于细胞 MRI 的有效性。MWCNTs 不会损害细胞活力或增殖。这些结果表明，MWCNTs 的 MRI 造影剂特性可在体内用于干细胞跟踪/成像以及在 MWCNT 介导的肿瘤靶向电化学治疗期间。
