Pumpkin-shaped molecule : Potential Super MRI contrast

Researchers at the Leibniz-Institut für Molekulare Pharmakologie in Berlin have now found that a class of pumpkin-shaped molecules called cucurbiturils together with the inert gas xenon, enables particularly good image contrast – namely around 100 times better than has been possible up to now. This finding published in the November issue cover article of Chemical Science by the Royal Society of Chemistry points the way to the tailoring of new contrast agents to different cell types and has the potential to enable molecular diagnostics even without tissue samples in the future. 

• Cucurbituril provides stunning image contrasts
• Cucurbituril exchanges around 100 times more xenon per unit of time than its fellow molecules, which leads to a much better image contrast

Read more at: 

1. Physics.org. http://phys.org/news/2015-10-pumpkin-shaped-molecule-enables-fold-mri.html#jCp
2. Martin Kunth et al. Identification, classification, and signal amplification capabilities of high-turnover gas binding hosts in ultra-sensitive NMR, Chem. Sci. (2015). DOI: 10.1039/C5SC01400J