Issue 24, 2021

Monitoring tissue implants by field-cycling 1H-MRI via the detection of changes in the 14N-quadrupolar-peak from imidazole moieties incorporated in a “smart“ scaffold material

Abstract

This study is focused on the development of innovative sensors to non-invasively monitor the tissue implant status by Fast-Field-Cycling Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FFC-MRI). These sensors are based on oligo-histidine moieties that are conjugated to PLGA polymers representing the structural matrix for cells hosting scaffolds. The presence of 14N atoms of histidine causes a quadrupolar relaxation enhancement (also called Quadrupolar Peak, QP) at 1.39 MHz. This QP falls at a frequency well distinct from the QPs generated by endogenous semisolid proteins. The relaxation enhancement is pH dependent in the range 6.5–7.5, thus it acts as a reporter of the scaffold integrity as it progressively degrades upon lowering the microenvironmental pH. The ability of this new sensors to generate contrast in an image obtained at 1.39 MHz on a FFC-MRI scanner is assessed. A good biocompatibility of the histidine-containing scaffolds is observed after its surgical implantation in healthy mice. Over time the scaffold is colonized by endogenous fibroblasts and this process is accompanied by a progressive decrease of the intensity of the relaxation peak. In respect to the clinically used contrast agents this material has the advantage of generating contrast without the use of potentially toxic paramagnetic metal ions.

Graphical abstract: Monitoring tissue implants by field-cycling 1H-MRI via the detection of changes in the 14N-quadrupolar-peak from imidazole moieties incorporated in a “smart“ scaffold material

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
08 Apr 2021
Accepted
28 May 2021
First published
01 Jun 2021

J. Mater. Chem. B, 2021,9, 4863-4872

Monitoring tissue implants by field-cycling 1H-MRI via the detection of changes in the 14N-quadrupolar-peak from imidazole moieties incorporated in a “smart“ scaffold material

E. Di Gregorio, V. Bitonto, S. Baroni, R. Stefania, S. Aime, L. M. Broche, N. Senn, P. J. Ross, D. J. Lurie and S. Geninatti Crich, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2021, 9, 4863 DOI: 10.1039/D1TB00775K

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