Peter Adalbert Jarzyna1, Torjus Skajaa1, David P. Cormode1, Daniel Samber1, Arjan W. Griffioen2, Zahi A. Fayad1, Willem J M Mulder1
1Translational and Molecular Imaging Institute, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City, NY, USA; 2Research Institute for Growth and Development (GROW), University Hospital Maastricht, Maastricht, Netherlands
We developed a new nanoparticle platform for the delivery of hydrophobic material to tumors that have properties included to enable their visualization with both MRI and optical techniques. The nanoparticle consists of a nanoemulsion preparation with hydrophobically coated iron oxide particles in the oil phase and the NIR fluorescent dye Cy5.5 coupled to the lipid surface. Three formulations with distinct particle sizes of 30, 60 and 94 nm were successfully synthesized and two were applied to a subcutaneous tumor mouse model. Multimodality imaging was performed to demonstrate tumor specificity, to visualize distribution and to determine pharmacokinetics.