Cyclic RGD Peptide-Conjugated Nanocarriers

Cyclic RGD peptide-conjugated nanocarriers were prepared to employ sulfo-SMCC and Traut’s Reagent as crosslinking reagents. Briefly, 5 mL of cyclic RGD peptide solution, at a concentration of 1 mg/mL in borate buffer (pH 8, containing 2 mM EDTA), was mixed with 30 μL of Traut’s reagent (2 mg/mL), and the reaction was allowed to proceed for 60 min at room temperature (RT), to prepare cyclic RGD peptide-SH. At the same time, 250 μL of Sulfo-SMCC solution (5 mg/mL, dissolved in PBS) was added to a 5 mL NH₂-SPIO@MSN suspension (10 mg/mL), and the reaction was allowed to proceed for 30 min at RT, to obtain sulfo-SMCC-SPIO@MSN.