Nanoparticle Functionalization and Its Potentials for Molecular Imaging

• Published in: Advanced science Vol. 4; no. 3; pp. 1600279 - n/a
• Main Authors: Thiruppathi, Rukmani, Mishra, Sachin, Ganapathy, Mathangi, Padmanabhan, Parasuraman, Gulyás, Balázs
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.03.2017; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Biocompatibility; Cadmium telluride; Chemistry; conjugation; Efficiency; functionalization; imaging; Ligands; microscopy; Nanoparticles; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Quantum dots; Regulatory approval; Review; Reviews; functionalization; microscopy; nanoparticles; conjugation; imaging
• ISSN: 2198-3844; 2198-3844
• DOI: 10.1002/advs.201600279

Functionalization enhances the properties and characteristics of nanoparticles through surface modification, and enables them to play a major role in the field of medicine. In molecular imaging, quality functional images are required with proper differentiation which can be seen with high contrast to obtain viable information. This review article discusses how functionalization enhances molecular imaging and enables multimodal imaging by which images with combination of functions particular to each modality can be obtained. This also explains how nanoparticles interacting at molecular level, when functionalized with molecules can target the cells of interest or substances with high specificity, reducing background signal and allowing simultaneous therapies to be carried out while imaging. Functionalization allows imaging for a prolonged period and enables to track the cells over a period of time. Recent researches and progress in functionalizing the nanoparticles to specifically enhance bioimaging with different modalities and their applications are reviewed in this article. Recent approaches and methods of specifically functionalizing nanoparticles to better equip the molecular imaging techniques like confocal and fluorescence microscopy, magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, and computed tomography are reviewed while providing an overview of chemistry behind functionalization and development of various advanced probe models including theranostics, multimodal imaging, and intraoperative therapies through functionalization.