Chinese Journal of Magnetic Resonance >

2026 , Vol. 43 >Issue 2: 200 - 213

DOI: https://doi.org/10.11938/cjmr20253181

Articles

In Situ Regulation of Protein Corona for Enhanced Tumor-targeted 19F MRI and Combined Therapy

  • LI Ruiyi ,
  • LI Sha ,
  • XU Qiuyi ,
  • SUI Meiju ,
  • CHEN Shizhen
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  • 1 State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and Imaging, National Center for Magnetic Resonance in Wuhan, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
    2 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
    3 School of Biomedical Engineering, Hainan University, Sanya 572019, China

Received date: 2025-09-19

  Online published: 2025-10-22

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Abstract

This study designed and constructed a pH-responsive intelligent theranostic nanoprobe. The nanoprobe utilizes perfluorocarbon nanoparticles with 19F magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast capability as the core, with bovine serum albumin (BSA) adsorbed on the surface to form a “protein corona”. Furthermore, tannic acid-iron (TA-FeIII) is complexed to create the core-shell structured PP@BSA-TAFeIII nanoparticles (NPs) probe. Owing to the unsaturated coordination state of Fe3+ in TA-FeIII, the nanoprobe binds to transferrin upon entering the bloodstream, forming a “hybrid” protein corona and thereby achieving active targeting of transferrin receptors (TfR) highly expressed on the tumor cell membrane. The nanoprobe efficiently accumulates in tumor tissue and generates a strong 19F-MRI signal, enabling highly sensitive tumor imaging. Upon entry into the acidic tumor microenvironment, Fe3+ is released to induce ferroptosis, while TA-FeIII exhibits excellent photothermal effects, thereby achieving synergistic therapy. This in situ regulation strategy of protein corona offers a new approach for precise tumor diagnosis and therapy.

Key words： 19F magnetic resonance imaging (19F MRI); ferroptosis; photothermal therapy

Cite this article

LI Ruiyi , LI Sha , XU Qiuyi , SUI Meiju , CHEN Shizhen . In Situ Regulation of Protein Corona for Enhanced Tumor-targeted 19F MRI and Combined Therapy[J]. Chinese Journal of Magnetic Resonance, 2026 , 43(2) : 200 -213 . DOI: 10.11938/cjmr20253181

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