As a natural polysaccharide polymer, glycogen possesses suitable properties for use as a nanoparticle carrier in cancer theranostics. Not only it is inherently biocompatible, it can also be easily chemically modified with various moieties. Synthetic glycogen conjugates can passively accumulate in tumours due to enhanced permeability of tumour vessels and limited lymphatic drainage (the EPR effect). For this study, we developed and examined a glycogen-based carrier containing a gadolinium chelate and near-infrared fluorescent dye. Our aim was to monitor biodistribution and accumulation in tumour-bearing rats using magnetic resonance and fluorescence imaging. Our data clearly show that these conjugates possess suitable imaging and tumour-targeting properties, and are safe under both in vitro and in vivo conditions. Additional modification of glycogen polymers with poly(2-alkyl-2-oxazolines) led to a reduction in the elimination rate and lower uptake in internal organs (lower whole-body background: 45% and 27% lower MRI signals of oxazoline-based conjugates in the liver and kidneys, respectively compared to the unmodified version). Our results highlight the potential of multimodal glycogen-based nanopolymers as a carrier for drug delivery systems in tumour diagnosis and treatment.

Department of Clinical and Transplant Pathology Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine Prague Czech Republic

Department of Pathology 3rd Faculty of Medicine Charles University Prague Czech Republic

Department of Physiology Faculty of Science Charles University Prague Czech Republic

Department of Science and Research Faculty of Health Studies Technical University of Liberec Liberec Czech Republic

Institute of Biophysics and Informatics 1st Faculty of Medicine Charles University Prague Prague Czech Republic

Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Prague Czech Republic

MR Unit Department of Radiodiagnostic and Interventional Radiology Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine Prague Czech Republic

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