Compared to traditional branched polymers with Gd(III)
chelates
conjugated on their surface, branched polymers with Gd(III) chelates
as the internal skeleton are considered to be a reasonable strategy
for preparing efficient magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents.
Herein, the Gd(III) ligand DOTA was chosen as the internal skeleton;
four different molecular weights (3.5, 5.3, 8.6, and 13.1 kDa) and
degrees of branching poly-DOTA branched polymers (P1, P2, P3, and
P4) were synthesized by a simple “A2 + B4”-type one-pot polymerization. The Gd(III) chelates of these
poly-DOTA branched polymers (P1-Gd, P2-Gd, P3-Gd, and P4-Gd) display
excellent kinetic stability, which is significantly higher than those
of linear Gd-DTPA and cyclic Gd-DOTA-butrol and slightly lower than
that of cyclic Gd-DOTA. The T
1 relaxivities
of P1-Gd, P2-Gd, P3-Gd, and P4-Gd are 29.4, 38.7, 44.0, and 47.9 Gd
mM–1 s–1, respectively, at 0.5
T, which are about 6–11 times higher than that of Gd-DOTA (4.4
Gd mM–1 s–1). P4-Gd was selected
for in vivo magnetic resonance angiography (MRA)
because of its high kinetic stability, T
1 relaxivity, and good biosafety. The results showed excellent MRA
effect, sensitive detection of vascular stenosis, and prolonged observation
window as compared to Gd-DOTA. Overall, Gd(III) chelates of poly-DOTA
branched polymers are good candidates of MRI probes, providing a unique
design strategy in which Gd chelation can occur at both the interior
and surface of the poly-DOTA branched polymers, resulting in excellent
relaxivity enhancement. In vivo animal MRA studies
of the probe provide possibilities in discovering small vascular pathologies.