title: Peptide-Targeted Gold Nanoparticles for Photodynamic Therapy of Brain Cancer.
abstract: Targeted drug delivery using epidermal growth factor peptide-targeted gold nanoparticles (EGFpep-Au NPs) is investigated as a novel approach for delivery of photodynamic therapy (PDT) agents, specifically Pc 4, to cancer. In vitro studies of PDT show that EGFpep-Au NP-Pc 4 is twofold better at killing tumor cells than free Pc 4 after increasing localization in early endosomes. In vivo studies show that targeting with EGFpep-Au NP-Pc 4 improves accumulation of fluorescence of Pc 4 in subcutaneous tumors by greater than threefold compared with untargeted Au NPs. Targeted drug delivery and treatment success can be imaged via the intrinsic fluorescence of the PDT drug Pc 4. Using Pc 4 fluorescence, it is demonstrated in vivo that EGFpep-Au NP-Pc 4 impacts biodistribution of the NPs by decreasing the initial uptake by the reticuloendothelial system (RES) and by increasing the amount of Au NPs circulating in the blood 4 h after IV injection. Interestingly, in vivo PDT with EGFpep-Au NP-Pc 4 results in interrupted tumor growth when compared with EGFpep-Au NP control mice when selectively activated with light. These data demonstrate that EGFpep-Au NP-Pc 4 utilizes cancer-specific biomarkers to improve drug delivery and therapeutic efficacy over untargeted drug delivery.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Radiology, NFCR Center for Molecular Imaging, Case Western Reserve University, 11100 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Meyers
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, NFCR Center for Molecular Imaging, Case Western Reserve University, 11100 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Radiology, NFCR Center for Molecular Imaging, Case Western Reserve University, 11100 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
authors.forename: Ann-Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Broome
authors.affiliation: Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Radiology, NFCR Center for Molecular Imaging, Case Western Reserve University, 11100 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
authors.forename: Richard S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Agnes
authors.affiliation: Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, NFCR Center for Molecular Imaging, Case Western Reserve University, 11100 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
authors.forename: Mark D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Schluchter
authors.affiliation: Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, NFCR Center for Molecular Imaging, Case Western Reserve University, 11100 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
authors.forename: Seunghee
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Margevicius
authors.affiliation: Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Radiology, NFCR Center for Molecular Imaging, Case Western Reserve University, 11100 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
authors.forename: Xinning
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, NFCR Center for Molecular Imaging, Case Western Reserve University, 11100 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
authors.forename: Malcolm E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Kenney
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, NFCR Center for Molecular Imaging, Case Western Reserve University, 11100 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
authors.forename: Clemens
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Burda
authors.affiliation: Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Radiology, NFCR Center for Molecular Imaging, Case Western Reserve University, 11100 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
authors.forename: James P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Basilion