Hydrophobin-Coated Solid Fluorinated Nanoparticles for 19F-MRI

In recent years, fluorine-magnetic resonance imaging (F-19-MRI) has emerged as a promising diagnostic technique, complementary to traditional proton magnetic resonance imaging (H-1-MRI) and easily translatable for clinical use, providing in-depth in vivo quantification without the use of radioactive agents. This creates a need for the development of appropriate delivery systems for highly omniphobic fluorinated probes. The use of the film-forming protein hydrophobin (HFBII) represents a sustainable and simple method to invert the philicity of fluorinated surfaces. Here, the ability of HFBII to form a rigid protein monolayer on superfluorinated coatings rendering them hydrophilic is shown, a property that is also retained in biological environment. This approach is then translated to directly disperse a solid superfluorinated F-19-MRI probe, PERFECTA, in aqueous solution through the formation of core-shell hydrophobin stabilized PERFECTA nanoparticles (NPs). The obtained NPs are fully characterized in terms of morphology, magnetic properties, colloidal stability, protein corona formation, cellular viability, and imaging performance.

Automated summary

Fluorine-magnetic resonance imaging (F-19-MRI) is a promising diagnostic technique that can be easily translated for clinical use, requiring appropriate delivery systems for highly omniphobic fluorinated probes. The use of the film-forming protein hydrophobin offers a sustainable method to change the wettability of fluorinated surfaces, demonstrated here to stabilize F-19-MRI probes in aqueous solution as nanoparticles for imaging applications.