Issue 3, 2020

Multifunctional gold nanoparticles as smart nanovehicles with enhanced tumour-targeting abilities for intracellular pH mapping and in vivo MR/fluorescence imaging

Abstract

A number of multimodal agents have been developed for tumour imaging and diagnosis, but most of them cannot be used to study the detailed physiological or pathological changes in living cells at the same time. Herein, a series of pH-responsive magnetic resonance and fluorescence imaging (MRI/FI) dual-modal “nanovehicles” are developed and tested. These new dual-modal materials allow for intercellular pH sensing, and those with units that are dually sensitive towards both acidic and basic environments have the ability for intracellular pH mapping and can be used to quantify pH at the cellular level. In addition, detailed pH changes in organelles (including lysosomes and mitochondria) can be investigated at the same time. On the other hand, with the tumour-targeting peptide (cRGD)-modified dual-modal nanovehicles, in vivo tumour MR and fluorescence imaging, which is suitable for cancer diagnosis, can be achieved. Moreover, it has been proved that these materials can pass through the blood brain barrier (BBB). By combining the above mentioned promising properties, these novel multifunctional “nanovehicles” may provide a new method for studying the role of pH during cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Graphical abstract: Multifunctional gold nanoparticles as smart nanovehicles with enhanced tumour-targeting abilities for intracellular pH mapping and in vivo MR/fluorescence imaging

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
25 Jul 2019
Accepted
19 Nov 2019
First published
28 Nov 2019

Nanoscale, 2020,12, 2002-2010

Multifunctional gold nanoparticles as smart nanovehicles with enhanced tumour-targeting abilities for intracellular pH mapping and in vivo MR/fluorescence imaging

K. Yu, K. Li, C. Lu, Y. Xie, Y. Liu, Q. Zhou, J. Bao and X. Yu, Nanoscale, 2020, 12, 2002 DOI: 10.1039/C9NR06347A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements