Facile synthesis and functionalization of manganese oxide nanoparticles for targeted T1-weighted tumor MR imaging

We report the polyethyleneimine (PEI)-enabled synthesis and functionalization of manganese oxide (Mn3O4) nanoparticles (NPs) for targeted tumor magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in vivo. In this work, monodispersed PEI-coated Mn3O4 NPs were formed by decomposition of acetylacetone manganese via a solvothermal approach. The Mn3O4 NPs with PEI coating were sequentially conjugated with fluorescein isothiocyanate, folic acid (FA)-linked polyethylene glycol (PEG), and PEG monomethyl ether. Followed by final acetylation of the remaining PEI surface amines, multifunctional Mn3O4 NPs were formed and well characterized. We show that the formed multifunctional Mn3O4 NPs with a mean diameter of 8.0 nm possess good water-dispersibility, colloidal stability, and cytocompatibility and hemocompatibility in the given concentration range. Flow cytometry and confocal microscopic observation reveal that the multifunctional Mn3O4 NPs are able to target FA receptor-overexpressing cancer cells in vitro. Importantly, the FA-targeted Mn3O4 NPs can be used as a nanoprobe for efficient T1-weighted MR imaging of cancer cells in vitro and the xenografted tumor model in vivo via an active FA-mediated targeting pathway. With the facile PEI-enabled formation and functionalization, the developed PEI-coated Mn3O4 NPs may be modified with other biomolecules for different biomedical imaging applications.