LHRH-functionalized superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for breast cancer targeting and contrast enhancement in MRI

J. Meng, J. Fan, G. Galiana, R. T. Branca, P. L. Clasen, S. Ma, J. Zhou, C. Leuschner, C. S.S.R. Kumar, J. Hormes, T. Otiti, A. C. Beye, M. P. Harmer, C. J. Kiely, W. Warren, M. P. Haataja, W. O. Soboyejo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

76 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper shows that superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) conjugated to luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH) (LHRH-SPIONs), can be used to target breast cancer cells. They also act as contrast enhancement agents during the magnetic resonance imaging of breast cancer xenografts. A combination of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and spectrophotometric analysis was used in our experiments, to investigate the specific accumulation of the functionalized superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) in cancer cells. The contrast enhancement of conventional T2 images obtained from the tumor tissue and of breast cancer xenograft bearing mice is shown to be much greater than that in saline controls, when the tissues were injected with LHRH-SPIONs. Magnetic anisotropy multi-CRAZED images of tissues extracted from mice injected with SPIONs were also found to have enhanced MRI contrast in breast cancer xenografts and metastases in the lungs.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1467-1479
Number of pages13
JournalMaterials Science and Engineering C
Volume29
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - May 5 2009
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Medicine

Keywords

  • Breast cancer detection
  • Magnetic nanoparticles
  • Receptor-mediated endocytosis

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