title: Conjugation of functionalized gadolinium metallofullerenes with IL-13 peptides for targeting and imaging glial tumors.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Glioblastoma multiforme is the most common and most lethal primary brain tumor in humans, with median survival of approximately 1 year. Owing to the ability of glioma cells to aggressively infiltrate normal brain tissue and survive exposure to current adjuvant therapies, there is a great need for specific targeted nanoplatforms capable of delivering both therapeutic and imaging agents directly to invasive tumor cells.
  
  
  METHODS
  Gadolinium-containing endohedral fullerenes, highly efficient contrast agents for MRI, were functionalized and conjugated with a tumor-specific peptide and assessed for their ability to bind to glioma cells in vitro.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We report the successful conjugation of the carboxyl functionalized metallofullerene Gd(3)N@C(80)(OH)(-26)(CH(2)CH(2)COOH)(-16) to IL-13 peptides and the successful targeting ability towards brain tumor cells that overexpress the IL-13 receptor (IL-13Rα2).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These studies demonstrate that IL-13 peptide-conjugated gadolinium metallofullerenes could serve as a platform to deliver imaging and therapeutic agents to tumor cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA. hfillmor@odu.edu
authors.forename: Helen L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Fillmore
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Shultz
authors.forename: Scott C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Henderson
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: William C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Broaddus
authors.forename: Zhi Jian
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Chun-Ying
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Shu
authors.forename: Jianfei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jiechao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.forename: Harry C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Dorn
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Corwin
authors.forename: Jerry I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Hirsch
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Panos P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Fatouros
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003287:Contrast Media; D056831:Coordination Complexes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D037741:Fullerenes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005909:Glioblastoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D018793:Interleukin-13 / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D057145:Nanoshells; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D053660:Receptors, Interleukin-13 / Q000378:metabolism; D012235:Rhodamines / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: C114557:5-carboxytetramethylrhodamine succinimidyl ester; D003287:Contrast Media; D056831:Coordination Complexes; D037741:Fullerenes; D018793:Interleukin-13; D010455:Peptides; D053660:Receptors, Interleukin-13; D012235:Rhodamines