A Targeted Multi-Crystalline Manganese Oxide as a Tumor-Selective Nano-Sized MRI Contrast Agent for Early and Accurate Diagnosis of Tumors

Introduction Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an important tool for the accurate diagnosis of malignant tumors in clinical settings. However, the lack of tumor-specific MRI contrast agents limits diagnostic accuracy.Methods Herein, we developed αv integrin receptor-targeting multi-crystalline manganese oxide (MCMO) as a novel MRI contrast agent for accurate diagnosis of tumors by coupling iRGD cyclopeptide PEGylation polymer onto the surface of MCMO (iRGD-pMCMO).Results The MCMO consisted of numerous small crystals and exhibited an oval structure of 200 nm in size. The iRGD-pMCMO actively recognizes tumor cells and effectively accumulates at the tumor site, consequently releasing abundant Mn2+ ions in a weakly acidic and high-GSH-expressing tumor microenvironment. Subsequently, Mn2+ ions interact with cellular GSH to form Mn-GSH chelates, enabling efficient T1-weighted MR contrast imaging. In vivo experiments indicated that iRGD-pMCMO significantly improved T1-weighted images, achieving an accurate diagnosis of subcutaneous and orthotopic tumors. The results verified that the T1 contrast effect of iRGD-pMCMO was closely associated with the expression of GSH in tumor cells.Conclusion Altogether, the novel tumor-targeting, highly sensitive MRI contrast agent developed in this study can improve the accuracy of MRI for tumor diagnosis.