Iron oxide nanoparticles as MRI contrast agents for breast cancer imaging
Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related death among women. Novel approaches for the detection of primary and metastatic breast cancers are urgently needed to increase the survival of patients. A promising strategy to improve the specificity and sensitivity of cancer imaging is to use biomarker target–specific imaging probes for image-based diagnosis and treatment monitoring. Emory cancer imaging team in collaboration with Ocean NanoTech reports the development of a novel targeted iron oxide nanoparticle using a recombinant peptide containing the amino-terminal fragment of urokinasetype plasminogen activator (uPA) conjugated tomagnetic ironoxide nanoparticles amino-terminal fragment conjugated-iron oxide (ATF-IO).This nanoparticle targets uPA receptor,which is overexpressedinbreast cancer tissues.Results show that ATF-IO nanoparticles are able to specifically bind to and be internalized by uPA Receptor-expressing tumor cells. Systemic delivery of ATF-IO nanoparticles into mice bearing s.c. and i.p. mammary tumors leads to the accumulation of the particles in tumors, generating a strongmagnetic resonance imaging contrast detectable by a clinical magnetic resonance imaging scanner at a field strength of 3 tesla. Target specificity of ATF-IO nanoparticles showed by in vivo magnetic resonance imaging is further confirmed by near-IR fluorescence imaging of the mammary tumors using near-IR dye-labeled amino-terminal fragment peptides conjugated to iron oxide nanoparticles. Furthermore, mice administered ATF-IO nanoparticles exhibit lower uptake of the particles in the liver and spleen compared with those receiving nontargeted iron oxide nanoparticles. These results suggest that uPA receptor- targeted ATF-IO nanoparticles have potential as molecularly targeted, dual modality imaging agents for in vivo imaging of breast cancer.
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Reference:
L. Yang, X. Peng, Y. A.Wang, X.Wang, Z. Cao, C. Ni, P. Karna, X. Zhang, W. C. Wood, X. Gao, S.Nie, H.Mao. Receptor-Targeted Nanoparticles for In vivo Imaging of Breast Cancer. Clinical Cancer Research, 2009, 15, 4722-4732.