Abstract #4342

The Effect of Intracellular Clustering on the Stability and Contrast Generating Properties of SPIOs: A Comparison Between PEGylated SPIOs and Liposome SPIOs

Jesse Trekker¹,², Michel Hodenius³, Stefaan Soenen³, Wim Van Roy², Marcel De Cuyper³, Liesbet Lagae²,⁴, Uwe Himmelreich¹

¹Radiology / BioNMR unit, K.U.Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; ²imec, Leuven, Belgium; ³Lab of BioNanoColloids, IRC, K.U.Leuven Campus Kortrijk, Kortrijk, Belgium; ⁴Solid State Physics and Magnetism, K.U.Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

To study the effect of intracellular clustering on the stability and contrast generation properties of SPIOs we prepared non-clustering PEGylated-SPIOs and clustering liposome-SPIOs. Both SPIOs were taken up by mesenchymale stem cells and showed no to limited toxicity. Intracellular studies showed a difference in clustering between both SPIOs, however no difference in contrast could be detected. On the other hand the intracellular stability of the clustered SPIOs seemed to increase.