Spherical superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles have been developed as T 2 -negative contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging in clinical use because of their biocompatibility and ease of synthesis; however, they exhibit relatively low transverse relaxivity. Here we report a new strategy to achieve high transverse relaxivity by controlling the morphology of iron oxide nanoparticles. We successfully fabricate size-controllable octapod iron oxide nanoparticles by introducing chloride anions. The octapod iron oxide nanoparticles (edge length of 30 nm) exhibit an ultrahigh transverse relaxivity value (679.3±30 mM À 1 s À 1 ), indicating that these octapod iron oxide nanoparticles are much more effective T 2 contrast agents for in vivo imaging and small tumour detection in comparison with conventional iron oxide nanoparticles, which holds great promise for highly sensitive, early stage and accurate detection of cancer in the clinic.

Monodisperse Gd2O3‐embedded iron oxide (GdIO) nanoparticles can simultaneously enhance the local magnetic field intensities of each other under an external magnetic field and result in synergistic enhancement of T1 and T2 effects. GdIO nanoparticles have the unique property to be both T1 and T2 contrast agents and can potentially lead to higher accuracy in cancer diagnosis, particularly liver tumors.

We report the design and synthesis of small-sized zwitterion-coated gadolinium-embedded iron oxide (GdIO) nanoparticles, which exhibit a strong T1 contrast effect for tumor imaging through enhanced permeation and retention effect and the ability to clear out of the body in living subjects. The combination of spin-canting effects and the collection of gadolinium species within small-sized GdIO nanoparticles led to a significantly enhanced T1 contrast effect. For example, GdIO nanoparticles with a diameter of ~4.8 nm exhibited a high r1 relaxivity of 7.85 mM−1 · S−1 and a low r2/r1 ratio of 5.24. After being coated with zwitterionic dopamine sulfonate molecules, the 4.8 nm GdIO nanoparticles showed a steady hydrodynamic diameter (~5.2 nm) in both PBS buffer and fetal bovine serum solution, indicating a low nonspecific protein absorption. This study provides a valuable strategy for the design of highly sensitive iron-oxide-based T1 contrast agents with relatively long circulation half-lives (~50 min), efficient tumor passive targeting (SKOV3, human ovarian cancer xenograft tumor as a model), and the possibility of rapid renal clearance after tumor imaging.

We report that ultra-small, monodisperse, water-dispersible magnetite (Fe(3)O(4)) nanoparticles can be synthesized by a facile one-pot approach using trisodium citrate as crystal grain growth inhibitor and stabilizer in polyol solution. The resultant Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles exhibit an excellent long-term colloidal stability in various buffer solutions without any modification. They are also superparamagnetic at room temperature and their magnetic property relies heavily on their size. Due to the low magnetization and good water-dispersibility, the 1.9 nm-sized Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles reveal a low r(2)/r(1) ratio of 2.03 (r(1) = 1.415 mM(-1) s(-1), r(2) = 2.87 mM(-1) s(-1)), demonstrating that they can be efficient T(1) contrast agents. On the other hand, because of the excellent magnetic responsivity, the 13.8 nm-sized Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles can be readily modified with nitrilotriacetic acid and used to separate the protein simply with the assistance of a magnet. In addition, these Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles may be useful in other fields, such as hyperthermia treatment of cancer and targeted drug delivery based on their size-dependent magnetic property and excellent stability.

Background: Recent studies have validated and confirmed the great potential of nanoscale metal-organic framework (NMOF) in the biomedical field, especially in improving the efficiency of cancer diagnosis and therapy. However, most previous studies only utilized either the metal cluster or the organic ligand of the NMOF for cancer treatments and merely reported limited theranostic functions, which may not be optimized. As a highly designable and easily functionalized material, prospective rational design offers a powerful way to extract the maximum benefit from NMOF for cancer theranostic applications. Materials and Methods: A NMOF based on hafnium (Hf) cluster and Mn(III)-porphyrin ligand was rational designed and synthesized as a high-performance multifunctional theranostic agent. The folic acid (FA) was modified on the NMOF surface to enhance the cancer targeting efficacy. The proposed "all-in-one" FA-Hf-Mn-NMOF (fHMNM) was characterized and identified using various analytical techniques. Then, in vitro and in vivo studies were performed to further explore the effects of fHMNM both as the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)/computed tomography (CT)/photoacoustic imaging (PAI) contrast agent and as the photothermal therapy (PTT)/radiotherapy (RT) agent. Results: A tumour targeting multifunctional fHMNM was successfully synthesized with high performance for MRI/CT/PAI enhancements and image-guided PTT/RT synergistic therapy properties. Compared with the current clinical CT and MR contrast agents, the X-ray attenuation and T 1 relaxation rate of this integrated nanosystem increased 1.7-fold and 3-5-fold, respectively. More importantly, the catalase-like Mn(III)-porphyrin ligand can decompose H 2 O 2 into O 2 in tumour microenvironments to improve the synergistic treatment efficiency of PTT and RT. Significant tumour growth inhibition was achieved in mouse cancer models without obvious damage to the other organs. Conclusion: This work highlights the potential of fHMNM as an easily designable material for biomedical applications, could be an effective tool for in vivo detection and subsequent treatment of tumour.