{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,17]],"date-time":"2026-03-17T09:00:52Z","timestamp":1773738052690,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,10,3]],"date-time":"2022-10-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1664755200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100019971","name":"Luzhou Science and Technology Bureau","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100019971","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Chem."],"abstract":"<jats:p>Liver fibrosis is a global health challenge with high morbidity and mortality rates, and diagnostic sensitivity of liver fibrosis tests can be increased using multimodal molecular agents. We designed cyclic arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (cRGD)-modified nanoparticles (NPs) using ultrasound (US)\/computed tomography (CT)\/magnetic resonance (MR) triple-modality imaging to evaluate liver fibrosis stages. <jats:italic>In vitro<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>in vivo<\/jats:italic> studies were conducted using primary hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and a rat model of liver fibrosis induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl<jats:sub>4<\/jats:sub>). Our results showed cRGD-poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)-Fe<jats:sub>3<\/jats:sub>O<jats:sub>4<\/jats:sub>-perfluorocarbon bromide (cRGD-PLGA-Fe<jats:sub>3<\/jats:sub>O<jats:sub>4<\/jats:sub>-PFOB) NPs were preferentially internalised by activated HSCs (aHSCs). The main cell types expressing integrin \u03b1<jats:sub>v<\/jats:sub>\u03b2<jats:sub>3<\/jats:sub> during liver fibrogenesis were the aHSCs. The protein levels of \u03b1<jats:sub>v<\/jats:sub> and \u03b2<jats:sub>3<\/jats:sub> expressed on aHSCs increased with the progression of liver fibrosis. After intravenous injection of cRGD-PLGA-Fe<jats:sub>3<\/jats:sub>O<jats:sub>4<\/jats:sub>-PFOB NPs, the echo intensity (EI) values, CT values, and T2 values of liver parenchyma correlated well with liver fibrosis severity. cRGD-PLGA-Fe<jats:sub>3<\/jats:sub>O<jats:sub>4<\/jats:sub>-PFOB NPs as multifunction contrast agents showed great potential to reflect the degree of HSC activation and distinguish among different liver fibrotic stages. The ligand-directed and integrin \u03b1<jats:sub>v<\/jats:sub>\u03b2<jats:sub>3<\/jats:sub>-mediated accumulation provides active and passive targeting capabilities, permitting the targeted multimodal imaging of cRGD-PLGA-Fe<jats:sub>3<\/jats:sub>O<jats:sub>4<\/jats:sub>-PFOB NPs, which delivers accurate non-invasive diagnosis and real-time monitoring of liver fibrosis development.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fchem.2022.996116","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,10,3]],"date-time":"2022-10-03T09:54:41Z","timestamp":1664790881000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Enhanced US\/CT\/MR imaging of integrin \u03b1v\u03b23 for liver fibrosis staging in rat"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Xueyao","family":"Tang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xuan","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mingxing","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xiaoling","family":"Zhong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Wenguang","family":"Fu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Meng","family":"Ao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jiqing","family":"Xuan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,10,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"983","DOI":"10.1097\/00004424-199009000-00004","article-title":"Physical and acoustical properties of perfluorooctylbromide, an ultrasound contrast agent","volume":"25","author":"Andre","year":"1990","journal-title":"Invest. 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