Hector F. Valdovinos

In Vivo Tumor Targeting and Image-Guided Drug Delivery with Antibody-Conjugated, Radiolabeled Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles

Since the first use of biocompatible mesoporous silica (mSiO2) nanoparticles as drug delivery vehicles, in vivo tumor targeted imaging and enhanced anticancer drug delivery has remained a major challenge. In this work, we describe the development of functionalized mSiO2 nanoparticles for actively targeted positron emission tomography (PET) imaging and drug delivery in 4T1 murine breast tumor-bearing mice. Our structural design involves the synthesis, surface functionalization with thiol groups, PEGylation, TRC105 antibody (specific for CD105/endoglin) conjugation, and (64)Cu-labeling of uniform 80 nm sized mSiO2 nanoparticles. Systematic in vivo tumor targeting studies clearly demonstrated that (64)Cu-NOTA-mSiO2-PEG-TRC105 could accumulate prominently at the 4T1 tumor site via both the enhanced permeability and retention effect and TRC105-mediated binding to tumor vasculature CD105. As a proof-of-concept, we also demonstrated successful enhanced tumor targeted delivery of doxorubicin (DOX) in 4T1 tumor-bearing mice after intravenous injection of DOX-loaded NOTA-mSiO2-PEG-TRC105, which holds great potential for future image-guided drug delivery and targeted cancer therapy.

Tumor vasculature targeting and imaging in living mice with reduced graphene oxide.

Graphene-based nanomaterials have attracted tremendous attention in the field of biomedicine due to their intriguing properties. Herein, we report tumor vasculature targeting and imaging in living mice using reduced graphene oxide (RGO), which was conjugated to the anti-CD105 antibody TRC105. The RGO conjugate, (64)Cu-NOTA-RGO-TRC105, exhibited excellent stability in vitro and in vivo. Serial positron emission tomography (PET) imaging studies non-invasively assessed the pharmacokinetics and demonstrated specific targeting of (64)Cu-NOTA-RGO-TRC105 to 4T1 murine breast tumors in vivo, compared to non-targeted RGO conjugate ((64)Cu-NOTA-RGO). In vivo (e.g., blocking 4T1 tumor uptake with excess TRC105), in vitro (e.g., flow cytometry), and ex vivo (e.g., histology) experiments confirmed the specificity of (64)Cu-NOTA-RGO-TRC105 for tumor vascular CD105. Since RGO exhibits desirable properties for photothermal therapy, the tumor-specific RGO conjugate developed in this work may serve as a promising theranostic agent that integrates imaging and therapeutic components.

Engineering of Hollow Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for Remarkably Enhanced Tumor Active Targeting Efficacy

Hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticle (HMSN) has recently gained increasing interests due to their tremendous potential as an attractive nano-platform for cancer imaging and therapy. However, possibly due to the lack of efficient in vivo targeting strategy and well-developed surface engineering techniques, engineering of HMSN for in vivo active tumor targeting, quantitative tumor uptake assessment, multimodality imaging, biodistribution and enhanced drug delivery have not been achieved to date. Here, we report the in vivo tumor targeted positron emission tomography (PET)/near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) dual-modality imaging and enhanced drug delivery of HMSN using a generally applicable surface engineering technique. Systematic in vitro and in vivo studies have been performed to investigate the stability, tumor targeting efficacy and specificity, biodistribution and drug delivery capability of well-functionalized HMSN nano-conjugates. The highest uptake of TRC105 (which binds to CD105 on tumor neovasculature) conjugated HMSN in the 4T1 murine breast cancer model was ~10%ID/g, 3 times higher than that of the non-targeted group, making surface engineered HMSN a highly attractive drug delivery nano-platform for future cancer theranostics.

Intrinsically Germanium-69-Labeled Iron Oxide Nanoparticles: Synthesis and In-Vivo Dual-Modality PET/MR Imaging

Intrinsically germanium-69-labeled super-paramagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles are synthesized via a newly developed, fast and highly specific chelator-free approach. The biodistribution pattern and the feasibility of (69) Ge-SPION@PEG for in vivo dual-modality positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance (PET/MR) imaging and lymph-node mapping are investigated, which represents the first example of the successful utilization of a (69) Ge-based agent for PET/MR imaging.

In Vivo Integrity and Biological Fate of Chelator-Free Zirconium-89-Labeled Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles.

Traditional chelator-based radio-labeled nanoparticles and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging are playing vital roles in the field of nano-oncology. However, their long-term in vivo integrity and potential mismatch of the biodistribution patterns between nanoparticles and radio-isotopes are two major concerns for this approach. Here, we present a chelator-free zirconium-89 (89Zr, t1/2 = 78.4 h) labeling of mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MSN) with significantly enhanced in vivo long-term (>20 days) stability. Successful radio-labeling and in vivo stability are demonstrated to be highly dependent on both the concentration and location of deprotonated silanol groups (−Si–O–) from two types of silica nanoparticles investigated. This work reports 89Zr-labeled MSN with a detailed labeling mechanism investigation and long-term stability study. With its attractive radio-stability and the simplicity of chelator-free radio-labeling, 89Zr-MSN offers a novel, simple, and accurate way for studying the in vivo long-term fate and PET image-guided drug delivery of MSN in the near future.

In vivo tumor vasculature targeted PET/NIRF Imaging with TRC105(Fab)-conjugated, dual-labeled mesoporous silica nanoparticles

Multifunctional mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) with well-integrated multimodality imaging properties have generated increasing research interest in the past decade. However, limited progress has been made in developing MSN-based multimodality imaging agents to image tumors. We describe the successful conjugation of, copper-64 (64Cu, t1/2 = 12.7 h), 800CW (a near-infrared fluorescence [NIRF] dye), and TRC105 (a human/murine chimeric IgG1 monoclonal antibody) to the surface of MSN via well-developed surface engineering procedures, resulting in a dual-labeled MSN for in vivo targeted positron emission tomography (PET) imaging/NIRF imaging of the tumor vasculature. Pharmacokinetics and tumor targeting efficacy/specificity in 4T1 murine breast tumor-bearing mice were thoroughly investigated through various in vitro, in vivo, and ex vivo experiments. Dual-labeled MSN is an attractive candidate for future cancer theranostics.

VEGF121-Conjugated Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticle: A Tumor Targeted Drug Delivery System

The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)/VEGF receptor (VEGFR) signaling cascade plays a critical role in tumor angiogenesis and metastasis and has been correlated with several poorly prognostic cancers such as malignant gliomas. Although a number of anti-VEGFR therapies have been conceived, inefficient drug administration still limits their therapeutic efficacy and raises concerns of potential side effects. In the present work, we propose the use of uniform mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) for VEGFR targeted positron emission tomography imaging and delivery of the anti-VEGFR drug (i.e., sunitinib) in human glioblastoma (U87MG) bearing murine models. MSNs were synthesized, characterized and modified with polyethylene glycol, anti-VEGFR ligand VEGF121 and radioisotope 64Cu, followed by extensive in vitro, in vivo and ex vivo studies. Our results demonstrated that a significantly higher amount of sunitinib could be delivered to the U87MG tumor by targeting VEGFR when compared with the non-targeted counterparts. The as-developed VEGF121-conjugated MSN could become another attractive nanoplatform for the design of future theranostic nanomedicine.

Cyclotron Produced 44gSc from Natural Calcium

(44g)Sc was produced by 16MeV proton irradiation of unenriched calcium metal with radionuclidic purity greater than 95%. The thick target yield at saturation for (44g)Sc was 213 MBq/μA, dwarfing the yields of contaminants (43)Sc,(44 m)Sc, (47)Sc and (48)Sc for practical bombardment times of 1-2h. Scandium was isolated from the dissolved calcium target by filtration, and reconstituted in small volumes of dilute HCl. Reactions with the chelate 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid (DOTA) indicated a reactivity of 54 ± 14 Gbq/μmol at end-of-bombardment.

44Sc: An attractive isotope for peptide-based PET imaging

The overexpression of integrin αvβ3 has been linked to tumor aggressiveness and metastasis in several cancer types. Because of its high affinity, peptides containing the arginine–glycine–aspartic acid (RGD) motif have been proven valuable vectors for noninvasive imaging of integrin αvβ3 expression and for targeted radionuclide therapy. In this study, we aim to develop a 44Sc-labeled RGD-based peptide for in vivo positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of integrin αvβ3 expression in a preclinical cancer model. High quality 44Sc (t1/2, 3.97 h; β+ branching ratio, 94.3%) was produced inexpensively in a cyclotron, via proton irradiation of natural Ca metal targets, and separated by extraction chromatography. A dimeric cyclic-RGD peptide, (cRGD)2, was conjugated to 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid (DOTA) and radiolabeled with 44Sc in high yield (>90%) and specific activity (7.4 MBq/nmol). Serial PET imaging of mice bearing U87MG tumor xenografts showed elevated 44Sc-DOTA-(cRGD)2 uptake in the tumor tissue of 3.93 ± 1.19, 3.07 ± 1.17, and 3.00 ± 1.25 %ID/g at 0.5, 2, and 4 h postinjection, respectively (n = 3), which were validated by ex vivo biodistribution experiments. The integrin αvβ3 specificity of the tracer was corroborated, both in vitro and in vivo, by competitive cell binding and receptor blocking assays. These results parallel previously reported studies showing similar tumor targeting and pharmacokinetic profiles for dimeric cRGD peptides labeled with 64Cu or 68Ga. Our findings, together with the advantageous radionuclidic properties of 44Sc, capitalize on the relevance of this isotope as an attractive alternative isotope to more established radiometals for small molecule-based PET imaging, and as imaging surrogate of 47Sc in theranostic applications.

Hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles for tumor vasculature targeting and PET image-guided drug delivery

AIM Development of multifunctional and well-dispersed hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles (HMSNs) for tumor vasculature targeted drug delivery and PET imaging. MATERIALS & METHODS Amine functionalized HMSNs (150-250 nm) were conjugated with a macrocyclic chelator, (S)-2-(4-isothiocyanatobenzyl)-1,4,7-triazacyclononane-1,4,7-triaceticacid (NOTA), PEGylated and loaded with antiangiogenesis drug, Sunitinib. Cyclo(Arg-Gly-Asp-D-Tyr-Lys) (cRGDyK) peptide was attached to the nanoconjugate and radiolabeled with (64)Cu for PET imaging. RESULTS (64)Cu-NOTA-HMSN-PEG-cRGDyK exhibited integrin-specific uptake both in vitro and in vivo. PET results indicated approximately 8% ID/g uptake of targeted nanoconjugates in U87MG tumors, which correlated well with ex vivo and histological analyses. Enhanced tumor-targeted delivery of sunitinib was also observed. CONCLUSION We successfully developed tumor vasculature targeted HMSNs for PET imaging and image-guided drug delivery.