Abstract #1652

Targeted Iron Oxide Probes for Enhanced Macrophage Visualization by MRI & PET

Thomas S. C. Ng^1,2, Chuqiao Tu³, Hargun Sohi¹, Heather Palko³, Adrian House³, Russell E. Jacobs¹, Angelique Y. Louie³

¹Beckman Institute, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States; ²Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States; ³Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States

Rupture of atherosclerotic plaque leads to major events such as stroke and myocardial infarction. Thus, the imaging of vulnerable plaque is of great clinical interest. We have developed a method to coat iron oxide nanoparticles with sulfated dextran (SDIO), which demonstrate enhanced plaque macrophage uptake. We evaluated the in-vitro and in-vivo functionality of the SDIO compared to dextran coated IO. For clinical application, it is desirable to quickly target the particle signal with a highly sensitive marker before localized MRI. To pursue this concept, ⁶⁴Cu-DOTA-SDIO was synthesized and used for PET/MR imaging in a mouse model of carotid plaque formation.