Fig. 1.

An EDB-FN-targeting gadofullerene for molecular MRI of breast cancer. a Schematic of synthesis of ZD2-Gd₃N@C80. Cyan, Gd; blue, nitrogen; red, oxygen; grey, hydrogen. b Illustration of tumour targeting with ZD2-Gd₃N@C80 for detection and characterisation of breast cancer in mouse models. MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells were used to obtain low-risk and high-risk breast cancer xenografts, respectively. Intravenous injection of the EDB-FN-targeting agent, ZD2-Gd₃N@C80, results in different binding levels, corresponding to the EDB-FN expression and tumour aggressiveness, for tumour detection and characterisation with molecular MRI