Thomas S. C. Ng1,2, Chuqiao Tu3,
Hargun Sohi1, Heather Palko3,
1Beckman Institute,
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States; 2Keck
School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA,
United States; 3Biomedical Engineering, University of California,
Davis, Davis, CA, United States
Rupture of atherosclerotic plaque leads to major events such as stroke and myocardial infarction. Thus, the imaging of vulnerable plaque is of great clinical interest. We have developed a method to coat iron oxide nanoparticles with sulfated dextran (SDIO), which demonstrate enhanced plaque macrophage uptake. We evaluated the in-vitro and in-vivo functionality of the SDIO compared to dextran coated IO. For clinical application, it is desirable to quickly target the particle signal with a highly sensitive marker before localized MRI. To pursue this concept, 64Cu-DOTA-SDIO was synthesized and used for PET/MR imaging in a mouse model of carotid plaque formation.