ABSTRACT
Objective To develop specific targeted magnetic biomarkers which can selectively mark the senile plaques in Alzheimer' s disease (AD) and verify its feasibility and validity.Methods Aβ1-40 peptide and Tat-PTD ( Tat-protein transduction domain) was binded with dextran-coated ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide ( USPIO) particles.Visualization of plaques in vivo in Alzheimer transgenic mice was investigated at 7.0 Tesla using T2 sequences after intravenous administration of the targeted nanoiron contrast agent and verified by histological staining.Results The targeted nano-iron contrast agent could enter the cultured neural stem cells,and was able to accelerate T2 relaxation rates of water protons in the cells and negatively reinforce the T2 signal intensity in the labeled cells.Plaques were specifically detected in vivo by magnetic resonance imaging ( MRI) and correlated well with histological staining after injection of nano-iron contrast agent into the APP/PS1 mice.Conclusion The targeted nano-iron contrast agent has the ability of selectively labeling the senile plaques in AD brain tissues in vivo,which might enable the early detection of plaques by MRI and can be further applied in the studies of early diagnosis of AD.