The potential of peptide dendron functionalized and gadolinium loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticles as magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents.

In this study, an MSN-dendron-Gd conjugate based nanoprobe was synthesized using an easy and efficient method with high purity and the nanoprobe was studied for its efficiency in contrast imaging applications. The nanoprobe was synthesized using the Cu(i)-catalyzed azide-alkyne based method, which overcame the challenges of stereospecific blockade of mesoporous silica nanohybrid synthesis. Moreover, the nanoprobe showed an approximately 11-fold increase in the relaxivity (from 5.55 mM-1 s-1 to 60.56 mM-1 s-1) and enhancement of MR images. The higher relaxivity rates were obtained via the properties of the nanoprobe contributing to an increase in the rotational correlation time, thereby increasing relaxivity. In addition, the nanoprobe displayed excellent biosafety as confirmed by in vitro and in vivo toxicity tests. Overall, the nanoprobe displayed great potential for biomedical use as a MRI contrast agent.