Herein, we report the functionalization of manganese oxide (Mn3O4) nanoparticles (NPs) with L-cysteine to create an antibiofouling zwitterionic surface for improved tumor magnetic resonance (MR) imaging applications. In this work, monodispersed trisodium citrate-stabilized Mn3O4 NPs were formed by decomposition of tris-(2,4-pentanedionato) manganese(III) via a solvothermal approach, followed by sequential conjugation with polyethylene glycol and L-cysteine. The final multifunctional Mn3O4 NPs were well characterized by different methods. We show that the formed Mn3O4 NPs with a mean diameter of 2.7 nm possess desirable water-solubility, colloidal stability, and cytocompatibility and hemocompatibility in a given concentration range. With the L-cysteine modification, the particles are able to be rendered with prolonged blood circulation time (28.4 h half-decay time in mouse), which is much longer than those without L-cysteine modification (18.5 h), and decreased macrophage cellular uptake. Thanks to the prolonged blood circulation time and the good r1 relaxivity (3.66 mM-1s-1), the L-cysteine-modified Mn3O4 NPs were able to be used as a contrast agent for effective T1-weighted MR imaging of a xenografted tumor model in vivo via the passive enhanced permeability and retention effect. The as-prepared Mn3O4 NPs with multiple reactive surface groups can be further modified for different biomedical applications.

Antibiofouling manganese oxide nanoparticles: Synthesis, characterization, and potential applications for T1-weighted MR imaging of tumors

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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