Ultrasmall biomolecule-anchored hybrid GdVO4 nanophosphors as a metabolizable multimodal bioimaging contrast agent

Abstract

Multimodal molecular imaging has recently attracted much attention on disease diagnostics by taking advantage of individual imaging modalities. Herein, we have demonstrated a new paradigm for multimodal bioimaging based on amino acids-anchored ultrasmall lanthanide-doped GdVO₄ nanoprobes. On the merit of special metal–cation complexation and abundant functional groups, these amino acids-anchored nanoprobes showed high colloidal stability and excellent dispersibility. Additionally, due to typical paramagnetic behaviour, high X-ray mass absorption coefficient and strong fluorescence, these nanoprobes would provide a unique opportunity to develop multifunctional probes for MRI, CT and luminescence imaging. More importantly, the small size and biomolecular coatings endow the nanoprobes with effective metabolisability and high biocompatibility. With the superior stability, high biocompatibility, effective metabolisability and excellent contrast performance, amino acids-capped GdVO₄:Eu³⁺ nanocastings are a promising candidate as multimodal contrast agents and would bring more opportunities for biological and medical applications with further modifications.