Zwitterionic Modification of Nanomaterials for Improved Diagnosis of Cancer Cells

Nanomaterials have been ubiquitously employed as platforms to load imaging agents for cancer diagnosis. In general, the majority of nanomaterials are accumulated in the reticuloendothelial system (RES)-associated organs such as liver, spleen and lung after systemic administration. Although the adopted strategy used to modify nanomaterials with polyethylene glycol (PEG) has relieved this problem to some extent, challenges still remains for further clinical applications. Recently, nanomaterials with zwitterionic surface modification have been found to have a better antifouling property than those with PEGylation modification. This review reports the recent progresses in the development of zwitterion-modified nanomaterials for improved cancer cell diagnosis, including zwitterionic modification of hybrid nanoparticles for enhanced fluorescence, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance (MR), and dual-mode imaging of cancer cells, and the zwitterionic modification of nanofibers for specific isolation captur...