Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Strasser, Paul
• Schinegger, Verena
• Friske, Joachim
• Brüggemann, Oliver
• Helbich, Thomas H.
• Teasdale, Ian
• Pashkunova-Martic, Irena

Titel

Superfluorinated, Highly Water-Soluble Polyphosphazenes as Potential 19F Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Contrast Agents

Ist Teil von

• Journal of functional biomaterials, 2024-02, Vol.15 (2), p.40

Ort / Verlag

Basel: MDPI AG

Erscheinungsjahr

2024

Quelle

EZB Electronic Journals Library

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• “Hot spot” 19F magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has garnered significant attention recently for its ability to image various disease markers quantitatively. Unlike conventional gadolinium-based MRI contrast agents, which rely on proton signal modulation, 19F-MRI’s direct detection has a unique advantage in vivo, as the human body exhibits a negligible background 19F-signal. However, existing perfluorocarbon (PFC) or PFC-based contrast materials suffer from several limitations, including low longitudinal relaxation rates and relatively low imaging efficiency. Hence, we designed a macromolecular contrast agent featuring a high number of magnetically equivalent 19F-nuclei in a single macromolecule, adequate fluorine nucleus mobility, and excellent water solubility. This design utilizes superfluorinated polyphosphazene (PPz) polymers as the 19F-source; these are modified with sodium mercaptoethanesulfonate (MESNa) to achieve water solubility exceeding 360 mg/mL, which is a similar solubility to that of sodium chloride. We observed substantial signal enhancement in MRI with these novel macromolecular carriers compared to non-enhanced surroundings and aqueous trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) used as a positive control. In conclusion, these novel water-soluble macromolecular carriers represent a promising platform for future MRI contrast agents.