title: In vivophotoacoustic imaging of breast cancer tumor with HER2-targeted nanodiamonds.
abstract: Radiation-damaged nanodiamonds (NDs) are ideal optical contrast agents for photoacoustic (PA) imaging in biological tissues due to their good biocompatibility and high optical absorbance in the near-infrared (NIR) range. Acid treated NDs are oxidized to form carboxyl groups on the surface, functionalized with polyethylene glycol (PEG) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) targeting ligand for breast cancer tumor imaging. Because of the specific binding of the ligand conjugated NDs to the HER2-overexpressing murine breast cancer cells (4T1.2 neu), the tumor tissues are significantly delineated from the surrounding normal tissue at wavelength of 820 nm under the PA imaging modality. Moreover, HER2 targeted NDs (HER2-PEG-NDs) result in higher accumulation in HER2 positive breast tumors as compared to non-targeted NDs after intravenous injection (i.v.). Longer retention time of HER-PEG-NDs is observed in HER2 overexpressing tumor model than that in negative tumor model (4T1.2). This demonstrates that targeting moiety conjugated NDs have great potential for the sensitive detection of cancer tumors and provide an attractive delivery strategy for anti-cancer drugs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS USA 66045.
authors.forename: Ti
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bioengineering Research Center, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS USA 66045.
authors.forename: Huizhong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Institute of Atomic and Molecular Science, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan 10617.
authors.forename: Chia-Yi
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bioengineering Research Center, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS USA 66045.
authors.forename: Janggun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jo
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bioengineering Research Center, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS USA 66045.
authors.forename: Xinmai
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Atomic and Molecular Science, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan 10617.
authors.forename: Huan-Cheng
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS USA 66045.
authors.forename: M Laird
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Forrest
keywords: Breast Cancer; HER2; Nanodiamond; Photoacoustic Imaging