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A Human Ferritin Iron Oxide Nano-composite Magnetic Resonance Contrast Agent MAGNETIC RESONANCE IN MEDICINE Uchida, M., Terashima, M., Cunningham, C. H., Suzuki, Y., Willits, D. A., Willis, A. F., Yang, P. C., Tsao, P. S., McConnell, M. V., Young, M. J., Douglas, T. 2008; 60 (5): 1073-1081

Abstract

Macrophages play important roles in the immunological defense system, but at the same time they are involved in inflammatory diseases such as atherosclerosis. Therefore, imaging macrophages is critical to assessing the status of these diseases. Toward this goal, a recombinant human H chain ferritin (rHFn)-iron oxide nano composite has been investigated as an MRI contrast agent for labeling macrophages. Iron oxide nanoparticles in the form of magnetite (or maghemite) with narrow size distribution were synthesized in the interior cavity of rHFn. The composite material exhibited the R(2) relaxivity comparable to known iron oxide MRI contrast agents. Furthermore, the mineralized protein cages are readily taken up by macrophages in vitro and provide significant T2* signal loss of the labeled cells. These results encourage further investigation into the development of the rHFn-iron oxide contrast agent to assess inflammatory disease status such as macrophage-rich atherosclerotic plaques in vivo.

View details for DOI 10.1002/mrm.21761

View details for Web of Science ID 000260341700008

View details for PubMedID 18956458