Conformational Changes in High-Density Lipoprotein Nanoparticles Induced by High Payloads of Paramagnetic Lipids

[Image: see text] High-density lipoprotein (HDL) nanoparticles doped with gadolinium lipids can be used as magnetic resonance imaging diagnostic agents for atherosclerosis. In this study, HDL nanoparticles with different molar fractions of gadolinium lipids (0 < x(Gd-lipids) < 0.33) were prepared, and the MR relaxivity values (r1 and r2) for all compositions were measured. Both r1 and r2 parameters reached a maximal value at a molar fraction of approximately x(Gd-lipids) = 0.2. Higher payloads of gadolinium did not significantly increase relaxivity values but induced changes in the structure of HDL, increasing the size of the particles from d(H) = 8.2 ± 1.6 to 51.7 ± 7.3 nm. High payloads of gadolinium lipids trigger conformational changes in HDL, with potential effects on the in vivo behavior of the nanoparticles.