Author:

Abstract:

Multifunctional nanoparticles have attracted a lot of attention since they can combine interesting properties like magnetism, fluorescence or plasmonic effects. As a core material, iron oxide nanoparticles (NP) have been the subject of intensive research. These cost-effective and non-toxic particles are used nowadays in many applications. However, customized functionalization of their surface is not trivial. We designed special PEG-based ligands with trialkoxy silane end-groups. This way, functional groups can be introduced on the surface, which can be used for covalent coupling reactions or stabilization of the particle. Afterwards antibodies were coupled to the surface and their availability was assessed by SPR measurements. These particles could serve as a generic platform for development of MRI contrast reagents with high specificity.