Gadolinium-chelate functionalized magnetic CuFeSe2 ternary nanocrystals for T1-T2 dual MRI and CT imaging in vitro and in vivo

Abstract

CuFeSe _2 nanomaterial with high thermal conversion efficiency, well superparamagnetism, effective x-ray attenuation ability, multifunctional groups and excellent biocompatibility is beneficial to the construction of multimodal imaging probes which can combine various imaging modes to provide a synergistic advantage over a single imaging mode. This study aimed to develop a novel multimodal nanocontrast agent CuFeSe _2 @diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA)-Gd to obtain imaging information with high specificity, high sensitivity and high contrast. The morphology and physical characteristics of CuFeSe _2 @DTPA-Gd were detected by transmission electron microscope, scanning electron microscope, x-ray single crystal diffraction, vibrating sample magnetometer and fourier transform infrared spectrometer. The toxicity of CuFeSe _2 @DTPA-Gd in vivo was evaluated by hematoxylin-eosin staining. The imaging capability of CuFeSe _2 @DTPA-Gd in vitro and in vivo was evaluated by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT). This study successfully prepared nanoparticles CuFeSe _2 @DTPA-Gd, and experimental results in this study demonstrated CuFeSe _2 @DTPA-Gd is expected to be a useful CT and MRI T1-weighted imaging/T2-weighted imaging three-modal contrast agent in clinic.

Keywords

• multimodal imaging
• contrast agent
• CuFeSe2
• magnetic resonance imaging
• x-ray computed tomography