Compositions of and methods of making ferritin-based imaging agents

Abstract

Methods of using ferritin imaging agents are provided. Exemplary embodiments include methods of measuring nephron number in a subject in need thereof and methods of imaging a target in a subject in need thereof. The methods include administering an imaging agent to the subject, wherein the imaging agent comprises: a recombinant ferritin fusion protein comprising at least one heavy chain subunit of ferritin and at least one light chain subunit of ferritin; and a magnetic nanoparticle core, wherein the magnetic nanoparticle core is bound within the recombinant ferritin fusion protein; and imaging the subject using at least one imaging modality. In some embodiments, the target is an organ of the subject and/or the imaging modality includes at least one of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), and single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT).

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.