title: Synthesis and characterization of an HSP27-targeted nanoprobe for in vivo photoacoustic imaging of early nerve injury.
abstract: Imaging is routinely used for clinical and diagnostic purposes, but techniques capable of high specificity and resolution for the early detection of nerve injury are still limited. In this study, we found that heat shock protein 27 (HSP27) becomes highly upregulated within 3 to 7 days of nerve injury. Taking advantage of this expression pattern, we conjugated gold nanorods (GNRs) to HSP27-specific antibodies to generate a nanoprobe (GNR-HSP27Abs) that could be targeted to the site of nerve injury and detected by near-infrared photoacoustic imaging. Notably, photoacoustic images acquired 12hours after local administration of GNR-HSP27Abs demonstrated that the nanoprobe can distinguish between injured and uninjured nerves in rats. Taken together, these findings expand the application of nanoprobe-targeted photoacoustic imaging to the detection of injured nerves, and prompt further development of this novel imaging platform for clinical application.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, the First Affiliated Hospital, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong 515041, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hongjiang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Laser Life Science & Institute of Laser Life Science, College of Biophotonics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Sihua
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Laser Life Science & Institute of Laser Life Science, College of Biophotonics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, the First Affiliated Hospital, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong 515041, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jiankun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, the First Affiliated Hospital, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong 515041, People's Republic of China; MOE Key Laboratory of Laser Life Science & Institute of Laser Life Science, College of Biophotonics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: hjzkm@vip.163.com.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Laser Life Science & Institute of Laser Life Science, College of Biophotonics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: xingda@scnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Da
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xing
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies; D006046:Gold; D055551:HSP27 Heat-Shock Proteins; D043942:Nanotubes; D061848:Optical Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D061088:Photoacoustic Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D051381:Rats; D013057:Spectrum Analysis; D020196:Trauma, Nervous System / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D055551:HSP27 Heat-Shock Proteins; D006046:Gold
keywords: Early nerve injury; Gold nanorods; HSP27; Nanoprobes; Photoacoustic imaging