Enhancing multimodality functional and molecular imaging using glucose-coated gold nanoparticles

• We have designed pegylated glucose gold nanoparticles as an imaging nanoprobe.
• Glucose coated gold nanoparticles can detect smaller tumours (<0.5 cm in diameter).
• Molecular imaging nanoprobe is sensitive to both CT imaging and PET scan.
• Nanoprobes can visualize biological processes or enable early diagnose diseases.
• After 15 days, most of the nanoparticles were secreted out of the body.

AimTo describe how pegylated glucose-coated gold nanoparticles (PEG-Glu-GNPs) can help improve computed tomography (CT) imaging.Materials and methodsPEG-Glu-GNPs were designed for use as an imaging nanoprobe to act an effective contrast agent for both CT and PET scans. Twelve BALB/c mice were divided into two groups: mice with injected with PEG-Glu-GNPs and control mice. The mice were examined using high-resolution micro-CT at different time intervals (24 h, 7 days, and 15 days) after the injection of the particles. Greyscale density and CT attenuation values were determined to trace the excretion of the particles over time.ResultsTumour contours were easily distinguished from surrounding tissue in mice injected with PEG-Glu-GNPs but not controls. This distinction was still visible at 7 days, but not at 15 days post-injection.ConclusionMolecular imaging technology has enabled the development of a new generation of imaging probes. These sophisticated probes can visualize biological processes or enable early diagnosis of diseases in vivo. Compared to conventional CT images and PET scans, PEG-Glu-GNPs significantly improved image quality at the cellular and molecular level, which can significantly aid the early detection of cancer or cancer metastases.