title: Fluorescence imaging of tumors with "smart" pH-activatable targeted probes.
abstract: One goal of molecular imaging is to establish a widely applicable technique for specific detection of tumors with minimal background originated from non-target tissues. In this study, a "smart" activatable strategy for specific tumor imaging is proposed in which pH-activatable targeted probes specifically detect tumors after binding to the target cell surface proteins, internalization, and eventual acidic pH activation within the acidic organelles. We successfully visualized submillimeter-sized tumors using this strategy in two different tumor mouse models. Since the design of pH-activatable targeted probes can be applied to any target molecules on the cell surface that are to be internalized after ligand binding, this imaging strategy can afford a general and powerful method to diagnose and monitor the target tumors.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Asanuma
authors.forename: Hisataka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Tetsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nagano
authors.forename: Yasuteru
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Urano
mesh_terms: D004705:Endocytosis; D005453:Fluorescence; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes