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Gd-doped nanoclusters help imaging of early orthotopic cancer

To realize precise diagnosis of early-stage cancer for effective treatment and better prognosis, high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is indispensable with the help of contrast agents. Iron-oxide-based T₂ÌýMR contrast agent (IOCA) is facing severe question of strong ferromagnetism and thereby weak T₂Ìýcontrast ability. Although numerous efforts have been devoted to enhance the contrast ability of IOCAs, such as gadolinium ions (Gd³⁺) doping, the specific role that Gd³⁺Ìýplayed in this process remained unclear.

Researchers led by Prof. Wu Zhengyan from the Hefei Institutes of ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵical Science (HFIPS) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the Institute of Health and Medical Technology and the Binzhou Medical University fabricated a series of Gd-doped iron oxide nanoclusters to systemically study the inherent mechanism through which Gd doping tune the T₂Ìýcontrast ability of the nanoclusters.

The researchers found that, with the doping content increased, GdxFe₃-xO₄Ìýnanocluster featuring ferromagnetism turned into a superparamagnetic one,Ìýand the specific surface area of the nanocluster significantly increased, collectively leading to stronger T₂Ìý³¦´Ç²Ô³Ù°ù²¹²õ³Ù.

"We obtained the highest r₂Ìývalue, four times higher than that for pristine Fe₃O₄," said Gan Yuehao, first author of the study, "the contrast of Gd_0.018Fe_2.982O₄Ìýnanocluster offers possible method to diagnose early orthotopic cancer in mice."

This work opens a new avenue for the development of atomically precise Gd-doped MMIONs as efficient T₂-weighted MRI contrast agents.

This research has been published inÌýChemical Engineering JournalÌý