Shape-dependent cellular behaviors and relaxivity of iron oxide-based T1 MRI contrast agents

Recent research efforts about iron oxide nanoparticles has focused on the development of iron oxide-based T-1 contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), such as ultrasmall iron oxide nanospheres (USNPs < 4 nm) and ultrathin nanowires (NW, diameter < 4 nm). In this paper, we report the cellular uptake behaviors of these two types of ultrasmall scale nanostructures on HepG2 cells. Both these two nanostructures were functionalized with tannic acid and their physical and chemical properties were carefully analyzed before cellular tests. Both USNPs and NWs exhibited strong paramagnetic signals, a property suitable for T-1 MRI contrast agents. The distinct shapes also caused much difference in their cellular uptake behaviors. Specifically, the uptake of USNPs was five times higher than that of NWs after 72 hours incubation. The shape-dependent cellular uptake can potentially lead to different blood circulation times, and subsequently different applications of these two types of ultrasmall nanostructures.