PEGylated Nano-Peaches: A Novel Multimodality Platform for Imaging of Atherosclerosis

Andrei Maiseyeu¹, Georgeta Mihai¹, Marcus A. Badgeley¹, Orlando P. Simonetti¹, Jeffrey A. Deiuliis¹, Chandan K. Sen¹, Sampath Parthasarathy¹, Sanjay Rajagopalan¹

Novel "peach-like" nanoparticle (NP) contrast agents were manufactured, characterized and tested. In-vitro studies showed preferential uptake of NPs by macrophages while in-vivo studies in ApoE-deficient mice revealed protracted signal enhancement of atherosclerotic plaque. Proper design and ease of fabrication of these nanostructures makes them very versatile as either T1 or T2 MRI contrast agents. These NPs loaded with fluorescein or near-infrared emitting quantum dots represent attractive tools for multimodality imaging of atherosclerosis.