Topics in Current Chemistry (2020) 378:40
1 3
intratumoral injection of IONPs serves as proof of concept, but, as we have just
mentioned, it is of no practical value for potential clinical applications.
In conclusion, up to now, untargeted IONPs have not proven to be a good alternative to conventional MRI CAs for cancer diagnosis.
4.1.2 Targeted IONPs
To improve the accumulation of IONPs in tumors, a promising strategy is conjugation with targeting segments [5]. In principle, this functionalization would allow not
only the visualization of IONPs by MRI, but would also offer the possibility of visualizing cellular and subcellular functions and processes in living organisms without
perturbing them, giving rise to so-called molecular MRI (mMRI) [270], which was
first described by Richard Klausner [271, 272] (Fig. 8).
Fig. 7 C6 brain tumor model implanted orthotopically (upper panels) and heterotopically (lower panels).
Left) T 2 -weighted MR images before the injection of IONPs; right) T 2 -weighted MR images 1 h after the
injection of IONPs
70
Reprinted from the journal
1 3
intratumoral injection of IONPs serves as proof of concept, but, as we have just
mentioned, it is of no practical value for potential clinical applications.
In conclusion, up to now, untargeted IONPs have not proven to be a good alternative to conventional MRI CAs for cancer diagnosis.
4.1.2 Targeted IONPs
To improve the accumulation of IONPs in tumors, a promising strategy is conjugation with targeting segments [5]. In principle, this functionalization would allow not
only the visualization of IONPs by MRI, but would also offer the possibility of visualizing cellular and subcellular functions and processes in living organisms without
perturbing them, giving rise to so-called molecular MRI (mMRI) [270], which was
first described by Richard Klausner [271, 272] (Fig. 8).
Fig. 7 C6 brain tumor model implanted orthotopically (upper panels) and heterotopically (lower panels).
Left) T 2 -weighted MR images before the injection of IONPs; right) T 2 -weighted MR images 1 h after the
injection of IONPs
70
Reprinted from the journal