Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Curr Top Med Chem. 2013;13(4):411-21. doi: 10.2174/1568026611313040002.
As we move towards an era of personalized medicine, molecular imaging contrast agents are likely to see an increasing presence in routine clinical practice. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging has garnered particular interest as a platform for molecular imaging applications due its ability to monitor anatomical changes concomitant with physiologic and molecular changes. One promising new direction in the development of MR contrast agents involves the labeling and/or loading of nanoparticles with gadolinium (Gd). These nanoplatforms are capable of carrying large payloads of Gd, thus providing the requisite sensitivity to detect molecular signatures within disease pathologies. In this review, we discuss some of the progress that has recently been made in the development of Gd-based macromolecules and nanoparticles and outline some of the physical and chemical properties that will be important to incorporate into the next generation of contrast agents, including high Gd chelate stability, high "relaxivity per particle" and "relaxivity density", and biodegradability.
随着我们迈向个体化医疗的时代，分子成像对比剂可能会越来越多地出现在常规临床实践中。磁共振 (MR) 成像因其能够监测伴随生理和分子变化的解剖结构变化，因此成为分子成像应用的一个特别有吸引力的平台。MR 对比剂开发的一个很有前途的新方向涉及用钆 (Gd) 标记和/或负载纳米颗粒。这些纳米平台能够携带大量的 Gd，从而提供检测疾病病理中分子特征所需的灵敏度。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了在 Gd 基大分子和纳米颗粒的开发方面最近取得的一些进展，并概述了一些将纳入下一代对比剂的重要物理和化学性质，包括高 Gd 配合物稳定性、高“每个粒子的弛豫率”和“弛豫率密度”以及生物降解性。
