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Preparation and biomedical application of a nonpolymer coated superparamagnetic nanoparticle

Authors Lin Du, Jianzhao Chen, Yanting Qi, Dan Li, Chonggang Yuan

Published 15 January 2008 Volume 2007:2(4) Pages 805—812



Lin Du1, Jianzhao Chen1, Yanting Qi1, Dan Li1, Chonggang Yuan1, Marie C Lin3, David T Yew4, Hsiang-Fu Kung5, Jimmy C Yu2, Lihui Lai1

1Institute of Molecular and Chemical Biology, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China; 2Department of Chemistry, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; 3Department of Chemistry, Open Laboratory of Chemical Biology of the Institute of Molecular Technology for Drug Discovery and Synthesis, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China; 4Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; 5Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China

Abstract: We report the preparation of a non-polymer coated superparamagnetic nanoparticle that is stable and biocompatible both in vitro and in vivo. The non-polymer, betaine, is a natural methylating agent in mammalian liver with active surface property. Upon systemic administration, the nanoparticle has preferential biodistribution in mammalian liver and exhibits good reduction of relaxivity time and negative enhancement for the detection of hepatoma nodules in rats using MRI. Our data demonstrate that the non-polymer coated superparamagnetic nanoparticle should have potential applications in biomedicine.

Keywords: SPIO nanoparticle, betaine, hepatoma, MRI