Multifunctional liposomes for MRI and image-guided drug delivery.

Liposomes are a class of nanovesicles that have been explored extensively in the biomedical arena for early diagnosis and treatment of disease. In recent years, several liposomal drug formulations have been clinically approved in oncology. In a modular approach, the properties of liposomes can be tailored for combined molecular MRI, therapy and image-guided delivery of therapeutic drugs. Over the last year, extensive research has been performed in the authors laboratory on paramagnetic liposomes as innovative imaging probes for the detection of specific molecular or cellular targets and image-guided drug delivery using multifunctional, temperature-sensitive liposomes. A number of key achievements by the authors group will be highlighted in this research spotlight.