Mitochondriotropic Lanthanide Nanorods: Implications for Multimodal Imaging

Mitochondria act as a prime therapeutic target for the treatment of various diseases and dysfunctional states. In this study, we have demonstrated the proof of concept of surface functionalization for achieving two-photon active mitochondriotropic lanthanide nanorods for higher resolution fluorescence imaging, and thereby, the spectral profile of mitochondria. The presence of Gd in the nanorods also enabled us to utilize this material as a T1-T2 dual-mode contrast reagent for recording magnetic resonance images of the mouse brain.