Development of a novel lipidic nanoparticle probe using liposomal encapsulated Gd₂O₃-DEG for molecular MRI

Recently, it has been showed that gadolinium oxide nanoparticles can provide high-contrast enhancement in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Moreover, liposomes due to high biocompatibility have shown unique model systems, with the most successful application being the drug delivery system. As a suitable cell-tracking contrast agent (CA) in molecular MRI (mMRI), the synthesis and optimisation characteristic of a novel paramagnetic liposomes (PMLs) based on gadolinium nanoparticles, essentially composed of a new complex of gadolinium oxide-diethylene glycol (Gd₂O₃-DEG) loaded in liposomes have been determined in this research. Gd₂O₃-DEG was prepared by a new supervised polyol method and was encapsulated with liposome by the film hydration method. The paramagnetic liposome nanoparticle (PMLN) sizes ranged from 65 to 170 nm. The r₁ of PMLNs and Gd₂O₃-DEG were much higher than that of Gd-diethylenetriamine penta-acetic acid (Gd-DTPA). In MC/9 cell lines, the experiments showed similar results as in water. PMLNs with lower T₁ than Gd-DTPA are sensitive, positive MRI CA that could be attractive candidates for cellular and molecular lipid content targets such as diagnostic applications.