HeeKyung Kim1, JiAe Park1, JooHyun Kim1, TaeJung Kim2, YongMin Chang1,3
1Department of Medical & Biological Engineering, Kyungpook national University, Daegu, Sankyuk-dong/Buk-gu, Korea; 2Department of Applied Chemistry, Kyungpook national University, Daegu, Sankyuk-dong/Buk-gu, Korea; 3Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Molecular Medicine, Kyungpook National University , Daegu, Samdeok-dong 2-ga/Jung-gu, Korea
The work is directed toward the synthesis of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) coated with paramagnetic Gd complex of DTPA-bis(amide) conjugate of cysteine (GdL) for use as a highly efficient MRI contrast agent. Well-dispersed spherical Au NPs coated with gadolinium complexes, abbreviated as Au@GdL, have been obtained; the mean size of Au@GdL is 12-15 nm, and the numbers of GdL are 2.9103 per Au NP. Au@GdL exhibits high longitudinal (R1) and transverse (R2) relaxivities of 17.91.1 mM-1s-1 and 28.21.0 mM-1s-1, respectively. This is the demonstration of possible application of Gd-coated Au NPs as a bimodal contrast agent for clinical uses.
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