Nanocrystal core high-density lipoproteins: a multimodality contrast agent platform.

High density lipoprotein (HDL) is an important natural nanoparticle that may be modified for biomedical imaging purposes. Here we developed a novel technique to create unique multimodality HDL mimicking nanoparticles by incorporation of gold, iron oxide, or quantum dot nanocrystals for computed tomography, magnetic resonance, and fluorescence imaging, respectively. By including additional labels in the corona of the particles, they were made multifunctional. The characteristics of these nanoparticles, as well as their in vitro and in vivo behavior, revealed that they closely mimic native HDL.