Fluorescence-tagged amphiphilic brush copolymer encapsulated Gd2O3 core-shell nanostructures for enhanced T1 contrast effect and fluorescent imaging

To obtain suitable T-1 contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) application, aqueous Gd2O3 nanoparticles (NPs) with high longitudinal relativity (r(1)) are demanded. High quality Gd2O3 NPs are usually synthesized through a non-hydrolytic route which requires post-synthetic modification to render the NPs water soluble. The current challenge is to obtain aqueous Gd2O3 NPs with high colloidal stability and enhanced r(1) relaxivity. To overcome this challenge, fluorescence-tagged amphiphilic brush copolymer (AFCP) encapsulated Gd2O3 NPs were proposed as suitable T-1 contrast agents. Such a coating layer provided (i) superior aqueous stability, (ii) biocompatibility, as well as (iii) multi-modality (conjugation with fluorescence dye). The polymeric coating layer thickness was simply adjusted by varying the phase-transfer parameters. By reducing the coating thickness, i.e. the distance between the paramagnetic centre and surrounding water protons, the r(1) relaxivity could be enhanced. In contrast, a thicker polymeric layer coating prevents Gd3+ ions leakage, thus improving its biocompatibility. Therefore, it is important to strike a balance between the biocompatibility and the r(1) relaxivity behaviour. Lastly, by conjugating fluorescence moiety, an additional imaging modality was enabled, as demonstrated from the cell-labelling experiment.