The present technology relates to the field of drug delivery. For example, the present technology provides methods of delivering a therapeutic to a cell where the method includes administering to a cancer cell a drug delivery composition. In this exemplary method, the drug deliver composition includes a (super)paramagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle core, where the nanoparticle core includes a coat non-covalently attached to a therapeutic, and the coat includes at least one of poly(acrylic acid), carboxymethyl dextran, and polyglucose sorbitol carboxymethylether.

Disclosed herein are nanoconstructs comprising a nanoparticle, coated with additional agents such as cationic polymers, stabilizers, targeting molecules, labels, oligonucleotides and small molecules. These constructs may be used to deliver compounds to treat solid tumors and to diagnose cancer and other diseases. Further disclosed are methods of making such compounds and use of such compounds to treat or diagnose human disease.

This disclosure provides compositions of metal-binding fluorinated compounds and associated methods for producing cellular labels for tracking cells by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), positron emission tomography (PET), and related methods.

Disclosed herein are complexes of gadolinium metal, ligand and meglumine that are substantially free of non-aqueous solvents. In particular, solvent-free complexes of 1) gadopentetate dimeglumine and 2) gadoterate meglumine are disclosed and methods of their preparation are disclosed. In addition, methods are disclosed for purifying reactants, monitoring and controlling pH, quantifying the free gadolinium content, quantifying the concentration of gadolinium-ligand complex in aqueous solution, and procedures for producing a drug product in one step. The one step process eliminates the need to dry the gadolinium-ligand complex, which is typically highly hygroscopic. The one step process includes purification steps that do not require the use of non-aqueous solvents.

Disclosed herein are complexes of gadolinium metal, ligand and meglumine that are substantially free of non-aqueous solvents. In particular, solvent-free complexes of 1) gadopentetate dimeglumine and 2) gadoterate meglumine are disclosed and methods of their preparation are disclosed. In addition, methods are disclosed for purifying reactants, monitoring and controlling pH, quantifying the free gadolinium content, quantifying the concentration of gadolinium-ligand complex in aqueous solution, and procedures for producing a drug product in one step. The one step process eliminates the need to dry the gadolinium-ligand complex, which is typically highly hygroscopic. The one step process includes purification steps that do not require the use of non-aqueous solvents.

The disclosure relates to methods for treating tumors. In particular, the disclosure relates to a method of treating a tumor by ionizing radiations in a subject in need thereof, said method comprising the steps of: (i) injecting a first therapeutically effective amount of high-Z element containing nanoparticles as radiosensitizing agents in said subject in need thereof within a period between 2 and 7 days prior to the first irradiation of the tumor, (ii) injecting a second therapeutically effective amount of the same or different high-Z element containing nanoparticles within a period between 1 hour to 12 hours prior to the first irradiation of the tumor, and, (iii) irradiating the tumor of said subject with a therapeutically efficient dose of radiations;
wherein said high-Z element containing nanoparticles are nanoparticles containing an element with an atomic Z number higher than 40 and said nanoparticles have a mean hydrodynamic diameter below 10 nm.

Provided is a novel nanoparticle, a contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging containing the same, and a ligand compound used for production of the nanoparticle. The present invention relates to a nanoparticle including: a metal particle containing iron oxide; and a ligand which is bound to a metal atom on a surface of the metal particle and is represented by formula (3): ##STR00001## where m is an integer of 1 to 4, and a broken line represents a coordinate bond with a metal atom on the surface of the metal particle.

A biothiol-activatable composition is disclosed that is configured to dissociate in the presence of a concentration of biomolecules that are excreted normally by a liver of a living subject comprising a noble metal nanoparticle, a reporter molecule, a linker molecule that is conjugated to the noble metal nanoparticle and to the reporter molecule, but displaceable in the presence of the biomolecules, and wherein the reporter molecule is released in the presence of the biomolecules. The noble nanoparticle is preferably a gold nanoparticle; the reporter molecule preferably comprises at least one of a fluorescent dye molecule, a radioactive molecule or an MRI agent and the linker molecule is preferably a thiol molecule displaceable by biothiols in the liver. In another aspect, the reporter molecule dissociates from the composition in the presence of a concentration of glutathione similar to what is found in liver sinusoids of a normally functioning liver.

The present invention provides a .sup.19F-MR/fluorescence multi-mode molecular imaging and drug loading diagnosis-treatment integrated nanoprobe, and a preparation method and an application. The nano-probe is a nanoparticle formed by coating a mixture of a surfactant containing a molecular targeting treatment drug and a fluorescent dye with a Perfluorocarbon (PFC) carrier; and by uniformly dispersing a mixed solution into water and glycerol, processing ultrasonically, removing a component which is not effectively coated, and purifying, the drug-loading nanoparticle capable of being used for 19 F-MR imaging may be prepared. The nano-probe may implement in-vivo 19F-MR molecular imaging; a carried molecular targeting treatment drug can implement targeted binding and targeted treatment; and by virtue of a characteristic that PFC in a nucleus may carry and release oxygen massively, an anaerobious microenvironment in the tumor is improved, a chemosensitization effect is achieved, and thus the diagnosis-treatment integration of the tumor is implemented finally.

The disclosure provides nanoemulsion compositions and methods of making and using thereof to deliver a bioactive agent such as a nucleic acid to a subject. The nanoemulsion composition comprises a hydrophobic core based on inorganic nanoparticles in a lipid nanoparticle that allows imaging as well as delivering nucleic acids. Methods of using these particles for treatment and vaccination are also provided.