Elena Torres1,
Enzo Terreno1, Roberta Cavalli2, Franco Fedeli3,
Francesco Mainini1, Roberta Napolitano1, Silvio Aime1
1Department of Chemistry and Molecular
Imaging Center, University of Torino, Torino, Italy; 2Department
of Drug Science and Technology, University of Torino, Italy; 3Bioindustry
Park of Canavese, Italy
Liposomes
occupy a leading role in biomedical field being successfully used since a
long time as drug-delivery systems. These nanovesicles can be properly
formulated in order to release the entrapped material as a consequence of a
specific endogenous stimulus (e.g. acidification, change in redox potential
or concentration of specific enzymes) that characterizes the early
asymptomatic stage of many diseases. In this contribution, a novel class of
paramagnetic pH sensitive liposomes with improved formulations are presented
and their basic MRI properties evaluated both in vitro and in vivo on tumor
animal model on mice.