Hydrogels Incorporating GdDOTA: Towards Highly Efficient Dual T1/T2 MRI Contrast Agents

Do not tumble dry: Gadolinium-DOTA encapsulated into polysaccharide nanoparticles (GdDOTA⊂NPs) exhibited high relaxivity (r1=101.7 s−1 mM−1 per Gd3+ ion at 37 °C and 20 MHz). This high relaxation rate is due to efficient Gd loading, reduced tumbling of the Gd complex, and the hydrogel nature of the nanoparticles. The efficacy of the nanoparticles as a T1/T2 dual-mode contrast agent was studied in C6 cells (see picture). Detailed facts of importance to specialist readers are published as "Supporting Information". Such documents are peer-reviewed, but not copy-edited or typeset. They are made available as submitted by the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.