Naturally biocompatible melanin based iron-complex nanoparticles for pH-responsive magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract The sensitivity and diagnostic accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging mainly depend on the relaxation capacity of contrast agents (CAs) and their accumulated amount at the pathological region. Due to the better biocompatibility and high-spin capacity, Fe-complexes have been studied widely as an alternative to replace popular Gd-based CAs associated with potential biotoxicity. Compared with a variety of Fe complex-based CAs, such as small molecular, macrocyclic, multinuclear complexes, the form of nanoparticle exhibits outstanding longitudinal relaxation, but the clinical transformation was still limited by the inconspicuous difference of contrast between tumor and normal tissue. The enhanced effect of contrast is a positive relation as relaxation of CAs and their concentration in desired region. To specifically improve the amount of CAs accumulated in the tumor, pH-responsive polymer poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) (PEOz) was modified on melanin, a ubiquitous natural pigment providing much active sites for chelating with Fe(III). The Fe(III)-Mel-PEOz we prepared could raise the tumor cell endocytosis efficiency via switching surface charge from anion to cation with the stimuli of the decreasing pH of tumor microenvironment. The change of pH has negligible effect on the r 1 of Fe(III)-Mel-PEOz, which is always maintained at around 1.0 mM −1 s −1 at 0.5 T. Moreover, Fe(III)-Mel-PEOz exhibited low cytotoxicity, and satisfactory enhancement of positive contrast effect in vivo . The excellent biocompatibility and stable relaxation demonstrate the high potential of Fe(III)-Mel-PEOz in the diagnosis of tumor.