Abstract
Herein, we report the bifunctional core-shell nanoprobes that can be used as a T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent and fluorescent marker for cells imaging. Gd2O3 nanoprobes coated with fluorescent carbon layer were prepared and their physicochemical properties were characterized by FETEM and XRD. A Small-animal MRI scanner (1.5 T) was utilized to measure the T1-weighted relaxivity rate (r1 = 5.57 ± 0.33 mM-1 s-1) of prepared nanoprobes. We showed that prepared nanoprobes exhibited powerful green fluorescence when they penetrated into the living cells. A pilot cytotoxicity study on L-929 fibroblastic cells showed that prepared nanoprobes are relatively safe at concentrations ≤ 8 μg/ml. Thus, prepared samples can be utilized as a promising bifunctional nanoprobe for in-vivo small animal MRI imaging and in-vitro tissues/cells study.