NMR as evaluation strategy for cellular uptake of nanoparticles

Advanced nanostructured materials, such as gold nanoparticles, magnetic nanoparticles, and multifunctional materials, are nowadays used in many state-of-the-art biomedical application. However, although the engineering in this field is very advanced, there remain some fundamental problems involving the interaction mechanisms between nanostructures and cells or tissues. Here we show the potential of 1H NMR in the investigation of the uptake of two different kinds of nanostructures, that is, maghemite and gold nanoparticles, and of a chemotherapy drug (Temozolomide) in glioblastoma tumor cells. The proposed experimental protocol provides a new way to investigate the general problem of cellular uptake for a variety of biocompatible nanostructures and drugs. © 2014 American Chemical Society

One-pot synthesis and characterization of size-controlled bimagnetic FePt-iron oxide heterodimer nanocrystals.

A one-pot, two-step colloidal strategy to prepare bimagnetic hybrid nanocrystals (HNCs), comprising size-tuned fcc FePt and inverse spinel cubic iron oxide domains epitaxially arranged in a heterodimer configuration, is described. The HNCs have been synthesized in a unique surfactant environment by temperature-driven sequential reactions, involving the homogeneous nucleation of FePt seeds and the subsequent heterogeneous growth of iron oxide. This self-regulated mechanism offers high versatility in the control of the geometric features of the resulting heterostructures, circumventing the use of more elaborate seeded growth techniques. It has been found that, as a consequence of the exchange coupling between the two materials, the HNCs exhibit tunable single-phase-like magnetic behavior, distinct from that of their individual components. In addition, the potential of the heterodimers as effective contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging techniques has been examined

Highly cohesive dual nanoassemblies for complementary multiscale bioimaging

International audienceInnovative nanostructures made of a high payload of fluorophores and superparamagnetic nanoparticles (NPs) have simply been fabricated upon self-assembling in a two-step process. The resulting hybrid supraparticles displayed a dense shell of iron oxide nanoparticles tightly attached through an appropriate polyelectrolyte to a highly emissive non-doped nanocore made of more than 10 5 small organic molecules. Cooperative magnetic dipole interactions arose due to the closely packed magnetic NPs at the nanoarchitecture surface, causing enhanced NMR transverse relaxivity. Large in vivo MRI T 2 contrast was thus obtained with unusually diluted solutions after intravenous injection in small rodents. Two-photon excited fluorescence imaging could be performed, achieving unprecedented location resolution for agents combining both magnetic nanoparticles and fluorescence properties. Finally, TEM imaging of the sectioned mouse tissue succeeded in isolating the core–shell structures, which represents the first image of intact complex magnetic and fluorescent nanoassemblies upon in vivo injection. Such highly cohesive dual nanoarchitectures should open great horizons toward the assessment with high spatial resolution of the drug or labeled stem cell biodistribution

Default Mode Network Structural Integrity and Cerebellar Connectivity Predict Information Processing Speed Deficit in Multiple Sclerosis

Cognitive impairment affects about 50% of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, but the mechanisms underlying this remain unclear. The default mode network (DMN) has been linked with cognition, but in MS its role is still poorly understood. Moreover, within an extended DMN network including the cerebellum (CBL-DMN), the contribution of cortico-cerebellar connectivity to MS cognitive performance remains unexplored. The present study investigated associations of DMN and CBL-DMN structural connectivity with cognitive processing speed in MS, in both cognitively impaired (CIMS) and cognitively preserved (CPMS) MS patients. 68 MS patients and 22 healthy controls (HCs) completed a symbol digit modalities test (SDMT) and had 3T brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans that included a diffusion weighted imaging protocol. DMN and CBL-DMN tracts were reconstructed with probabilistic tractography. These networks (DMN and CBL-DMN) and the cortico-cerebellar tracts alone were modeled using a graph theoretical approach with fractional anisotropy (FA) as the weighting factor. Brain parenchymal fraction (BPF) was also calculated. In CIMS SDMT scores strongly correlated with the FA-weighted global efficiency (GE) of the network [GE(CBL-DMN): ρ = 0.87, R2 = 0.76, p < 0.001; GE(DMN): ρ = 0.82, R2 = 0.67, p < 0.001; GE(CBL): ρ = 0.80, R2 = 0.64, p < 0.001]. In CPMS the correlation between these measures was significantly lower [GE(CBL-DMN): ρ = 0.51, R2 = 0.26, p < 0.001; GE(DMN): ρ = 0.48, R2 = 0.23, p = 0.001; GE(CBL): ρ = 0.52, R2 = 0.27, p < 0.001] and SDMT scores correlated most with BPF (ρ = 0.57, R2 = 0.33, p < 0.001). In a multivariable regression model where SDMT was the independent variable, FA-weighted GE was the only significant explanatory variable in CIMS, while in CPMS BPF and expanded disability status scale were significant. No significant correlation was found in HC between SDMT scores, MRI or network measures. DMN structural GE is related to cognitive performance in MS, and results of CBL-DMN suggest that the cerebellum structural connectivity to the DMN plays an important role in information processing speed decline

NMR-MRI, μSR and Mössbauer Spectroscopies in Molecular Magnets

The discovery of molecular nanomagnets showing novel quantum effects, as the quantum tunneling of the magnetization, has brought to a renewed interest for the study of molecular magnetism and multifunctional molecular material. These materials have recently triggered an intense research activity in view of their possible applicabilities as, for example, as nanosized information storage units and as magnetic nanoparticles for bio-medicine. Several fundamental aspects of the microscopic static and dynamic properties of these molecular materials have been obtained by means of spectroscopies using local probes, as nuclei and muons. In this book an extensive overview on the results obtained during the last decade and on recent achievements in the study of molecular magnets by means of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Muon Spin Rotation, Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Mossbauer techniques is presented. The aim is to introduce the reader to these techniques and to give a general background on their application to molecular spin systems

NMR-MRI, muSR and Mossbauer Spectroscopies in Molecular Magnets

This book is a collection of scientific articles on the basic aspects of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), muon spin rotation (µSR) and M¨ossbauer spectroscopies, applied to the study of molecular magnets and to related systems, such as low-dimensional magnets and contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). These articles gather, to a certain extent, the lecture notes presented by the authors at the Training School on NMR-MRI, µSR and M¨ossbauer Techniques, held in Pavia from the 17th to the 30th of September 2006. The motivation for the School and for the publication of this book originates from the growing interest of a broad scientific community to the field of molecular magnetism where the aforementioned techniques play a key role. Nowadays several groups of physicists, of chemists and some groups of biologists work in this field in order to unravel the fundamental physical aspects of molecular magnets which are of interest for their future applicability as storage units, in quantum computation, in hybrid superconducting-magnetic systems or as contrast agents, for example. Nevertheless, the use and the knowledge of NMR-MRI, µSR and M¨ossbauer spectroscopies is still limited to a small scientific community. The purpose of the School and of the book was to introduce these techniques to a broader scientific community working on molecular magnets and related systems. In particular, to give the basic principles of each technique, to show which information is derived, for example, from the spectra, from the muon depolarization curves or from the relaxation rates, and how it is complementary to the one obtained by other techniques. Moreover, it will be shown how from the experimental results derived by these techniques one can tailor the properties of molecular magnets and nanoparticles which, in turn, can be used as contrast agents for MRI. The book is addressed to graduate and senior researchers working on molecular magnets or closely related areas, having a background on quantum mechanics. It is divided into three main parts, each one dedicated to a different spectroscopy. The first chapter of each part is a short tutorial introduction to each one of the spectroscopies. Since an exhaustive introduction is out of the aim of this book, reference is properly made to text books and to web sites which allow a deeper understanding of the basic principles underlaying these techniques. This introductory chapter is followed by more specialized ones giving an overview on recent results obtained by NMR, µSR and M¨ossbauer spectroscopies in molecular magnets and in strictly related areas. Two chapters of the first part are dedicated to MRI and to the investigation of contrast agents suitable for applications in MRI