BiOmimetic fluorinated nanoProbes for multIscaleTumor detection by MRI and Advanced Raman techniques

The OPTIMA project aims at developing biomimetic Fluorinated NanoParticles (FNP) as bimodal imaging probes for multiscale detection of solid tumors. Such FNP are based on a fluorine-dense core that can be detected by 19F-Magnetic Resonance Imaging (19F-MRI) and Raman microscopy/spectroscopy. With this approach the very same FNP can be seen both by in vivo whole body 19F-MRI on the (sub)millimeter scale, and by Raman imaging (ex vivo) and in situ Raman spectroscopy (in vivo), up to the micrometer scale. The main project tasks are: i) the production of bimodal FNP with enhanced sensitivity for tumor detection. Biomimetic strategies are applied to obtain cell membrane coated FNP with prolonged in vivo circulation lifetime and enhanced tumor homing capability. ii) the demonstration in a murine model of breast cancer that such biomimetic FNPs can accumulate in the tumour at levels suitable to enable in vivo detection by 19F-MRI.iii) the optimization of deep Raman microscopy technologies for in situ/in vivo detection of the FNPs, allowing for the accurate identification of tumor margins. In this context, the scope of the canSERV service “Preclinical Magnetic Resonance Imaging” we requested (Service 1) is: i) to demonstrate that biomimetic FNPs can accumulate and label the tumor such to enable visualization of the lesions by in vivo 19F-MRI; ii) to compare the tumor homing ability of membrane-coated (biomimetic) versus non membrane coated-coated FNPs.The scope of the canSERV service “EM 3D methods” we requested (Service 2) is to obtain a full morphological characterization of the FNPs. Understanding the relationship between the morphology of FNPs and the 19F-relaxation properties is critical to design nanoparticles with optimized 19F-NMR sensitivity.