title: Multifunctional ferritin cage nanostructures for fluorescence and MR imaging of tumor cells.
abstract: Bionanoparticles and nanostructures have attracted increasing interest as versatile and promising tools in many applications including biosensing and bioimaging. In this study, to image and detect tumor cells, ferritin cage-based multifunctional hybrid nanostructures were constructed that: (i) displayed both the green fluorescent protein and an Arg-Gly-Asp peptide on the exterior surface of the ferritin cages; and (ii) incorporated ferrimagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles into the ferritin interior cavity. The overall architecture of ferritin cages did not change after being integrated with fusion proteins and ferrimagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles. These multifunctional nanostructures were successfully used as a fluorescent imaging probe and an MRI contrast agent for specifically probing and imaging α(v)β(3) integrin upregulated tumor cells. The work provides a promising strategy for tumor cell detection by simultaneous fluorescence and MR imaging.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.44, Xiaohongshan, Wuhan 430071, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Zhi-Ping
authors.initials: ZP
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Hong-Ping
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Zong-Qiang
authors.initials: ZQ
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Xian-En
authors.initials: XE
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D003287:Contrast Media / Q000737:chemistry*; D005293:Ferritins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry*; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000737:chemistry; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D009842:Oligopeptides; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C047981:arginyl-glycyl-aspartic acid; D005293:Ferritins