Abstract
Gadolinium (Gd)-based compounds and materials are the most commonly used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents in the clinic; however, safety concerns associated with their toxicities in the free ionic form have promoted the development of new generations of metal-free contrast agents. Here we report a supramolecular strategy to convert an FDA-approved anticancer drug, Pemetrexed (Pem), to a molecular hydrogelator with inherent chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) MRI signals. The rationally designed drug-peptide conjugate can spontaneously associate into filamentous assemblies under physiological conditions and consequently form theranostic supramolecular hydrogels for injectable delivery. We demonstrated that the local delivery and distribution of Pem-peptide nanofiber hydrogels can be directly assessed using CEST MRI in a mouse glioma model. Our work lays out the foundation for the development of drug-constructed theranostic supramolecular materials with an inherent CEST MRI signal that enables noninvasive monitoring of their in vivo distribution and drug release.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 797-805 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | ACS Nano |
Volume | 11 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 24 2017 |
Keywords
- CEST
- MRI
- anticancer drugs
- molecular assembly
- supramolecular nanofibers
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Materials Science
- General Engineering
- General Physics and Astronomy