The stor
age
and c
at
abolism of Ultr
asm
all SuperP
ar
am
agnetic Iron Oxide (USPIO) n
anop
articles were
an
alyzed through
a multisc
ale
appro
ach combining Two Photon L
aser Sc
anning Microscopy (TPLSM)
and High-Resolution Tr
ansmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM)
at different times
after intr
avenous injection in
an
atherosclerotic ApoE
−/− mouse model. The
atherosclerotic pl
aque fe
atures
and the USPIO heterogeneous biodistribution were reve
aled down from org
an’s sc
ale to subcellul
ar level. The biotr
ansform
ation of the n
anop
article iron oxide (m
aghemite) core into ferritin, the non-toxic form of iron stor
age, w
as demonstr
ated for the first time
ex vivo in
atherosclerotic pl
aques
as well
as in spleen, the iron stor
age org
an. These results rely on
an innov
ative sp
ati
al
and structur
al investig
ation of USPIO’s c
at
abolism in cellul
ar ph
agolysosomes. This study showed th
at these n
anop
articles were stored
as non-toxic iron compounds: m
aghemite oxide or ferritin, which is promising for MRI detection of
atherosclerotic pl
aques in clinics using these USPIOs.
absSec_2">From the Clinical Editor
Advance in nanotechnology has brought new contrast agents for clinical imaging. In this article, the authors investigated the use and biotransformation of Ultrasmall Super-paramagnetic Iron Oxide (USPIO) nanoparticles for analysis of atherosclerotic plagues in Two Photon Laser Scanning Microscopy (TPLSM) and High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM). The biophysical data generated from this study could enable the possible use of these nanoparticles for the benefits of clinical patients.