Biocompatibility of ferritin-based nanoparticles as targeted MRI contrast agents

Cationic ferritin injected systemically into adult male mice transiently adheres to the glomerular basement membrane and can be noninvasively detected by MRI to count glomeruli and measure morphology as depicted in the inner circle. The outer boxes represent the areas of potential toxicity of either cationic or native ferritin assessed in this study, including kidney effects such as disruption of the glomerular basement membrane in the kidney, iron toxicity in liver and spleen, and the adverse effects of a large horse protein such as inflammation.165