title: Breast cancer cells imaging by targeting methionine transporters with gadolinium-based nanoprobe.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Early cancer diagnosis using MRI imaging is of high global interest as a non-invasive and powerful modality. In this study, methionine was conjugated on gadolinium-based mesoporous silica nanospheres to evaluate intra-cellular uptake and its accumulation in human breast cancer cells.
  
  
  METHODS
  The contrast agent was synthesized and characterized using different techniques including N2 physisorption, thermal gravimetric analysis, dynamic light scattering, and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). The intra-cellular uptake of Gd(3+) was measured by ICP-AES, fluorescent microscopy, and flow cytometry. Finally, cellular and tumor MR imaging were performed to determine in vitro and in vivo relaxometry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  According to the results, the contrast agents accumulated in tumor cells both in vitro and in vivo. There was no significant cellular toxicity on either normal or cancer cells along with strong intense signal on T 1 compared to the unlabeled cells.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results showed that the novel contrast agent could become a useful tool in early detection of cancer.
authors: Faculty of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors: Bita
authors: B
authors: Mehravi
authors: Mehdi Shafiee
authors: MS
authors: Ardestani
authors: Maryam
authors: M
authors: Damercheli
authors: Haleh
authors: H
authors: Soltanghoraee
authors: Negar
authors: N
authors: Ghanaldarlaki
authors: Ali M
authors: AM
authors: Alizadeh
authors: Mohammad A
authors: MA
authors: Oghabian
authors: Maryam Shahzad
authors: MS
authors: Shirazi
authors: Shabnam
authors: S
authors: Mahernia
authors: Massoud
authors: M
authors: Amanlou
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D002470:Cell Survival; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005682:Gadolinium; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D006801:Humans; D042541:Intracellular Space / Q000378:metabolism; D061986:MCF-7 Cells; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008715:Methionine / Q000378:metabolism*; D054118:Nanospheres; D016062:Porosity; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; D008715:Methionine; D005682:Gadolinium