Passive tumor targeting and imaging by using mercaptosuccinic acid-coated near-infrared quantum dots

Abstract

In this paper, we demonstrate the preparation of monodispersed quantum dots (QDs) as near-infrared (NIR) optical probes for in vivo pancreatic cancer targeting and imaging. The design of these luminescent probes involves functionalizing NIR QDs with ligand mercaptosuccinic acid (MSA), which targets the tumor site by enhanced permeability and retention effect. The colloidal and optical stability of the QDs can be maintained for >1 week. In vivo optical imaging studies in nude mice bearing pancreatic tumor show that the probes accumulate at tumor sites for >2.5 hours following intravenous injection of the functionalized NIR QDs. Tumor-labeling studies showed no evidence of harmful effects on the treated animals, even at a dose as high a ~50 mg/kg. These results demonstrate that the engineered MSA-functionalized QDs can serve as a diagnostic platform for early detection of cancer, as well as in image-guided precise surgical resection of tumors.

Keywords:

• QDs
• near-infrared
• mercaptosuccinic acid
• pancreatic cancer
• tumor targeting

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the grants from National Natural Science Foundation of China (81301318), Shenzhen Basic Research and Key Laboratory Project (JCYJ20120613170218654, JC201005280391A, JCYJ20140418182819164, ZDSY20130329101130496), the Singapore Ministry of Education (Grants Tier 2 MOE2010-T2-2-010 [M4020020.040 ARC2/11], Tier 1 M4010360.040 RG29/10), NTU-NHG Innovation Collaboration Grant (number M4061202.040), and A*STAR Science and Engineering Research Council (number M4070176.040).

Disclosure

No conflict of interest exists in the submission of this manuscript and none declared.