Discrete Polymer-based, Metal-free MRI Contrast Agents

NIH RePORTER · NIH · R35 · $364,360 · view on reporter.nih.gov ↗

Abstract

Project Summary Structural dispersity in synthetic polymers is paramount for their clinical use and regulatory approval. In this project, we propose the development of water-soluble discrete bottlebrush polymers bearing alternating phospholipid and fluorinated comonomers to enable their clinical applications as metal-free19F MRI contrast agents. The novelty of the proposed polymer system is that it combines: 1. discrete molecular weight (as opposed to conventional disperse polymers); 2. multifunctionality of branched architectures; 3. high water solubility and biocompatibility of phosphorylcholine groups; and 4. exogenous and chemically identical signal of19F groups. Rational design of the brush polymer architecture, comonomer sequence, and lipophilic-hydrophilic balance is anticipated to suppress signal broadening and yield discrete synthetic polymer-based platforms that can be further extended to other targeted imaging and sensing strategies.

Key facts

NIH application ID
10888253
Project number
5R35GM151217-02
Recipient
LOUISIANA STATE UNIV A&M COL BATON ROUGE
Principal Investigator
Jimmy Lawrence
Activity code
R35
Funding institute
NIH
Fiscal year
2024
Award amount
$364,360
Award type
5
Project period
2023-07-15 → 2028-04-30