Application of cNGR functionalized gold nanoparticle probe in CT imaging of breast cancer angiogenesis / 国际生物医学工程杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To prepare polyethylene glycol/cyclic asparagines-glycine-arginine functionalized gold nanoparticles (GNPs-PEG@cNGR) and evaluate their effectiveness in CT imaging of breast cancer angiogenesis.Methods The GNPs were synthesized by one-step reduction of chloroauric acid by sodium citrate.The thiolated PEG and cysteine-modified cNGR were coupled to the surface of GNPs through Au-S bonds,respectively.The GNPs-PEG@cNGR was characterized by transmission electron microscopy,Zeta potential/hydration particle size analyzer,and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer.The uptake and CT imaging effect of GNPs-PEG@cNGR were assessed by human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and human hepatoma cells (HepG2) positively expressed for aminopeptidase N (APN/CD 13).The in vivo CT imaging effects on tumor angiogenesis and biocompatibility in mice of GNPs-PEG@cNGR were studied by BALB/c mouse model of 4T1 breast cancer.Results A specific CT molecular probe,i.e.GNPs-PEG@cNGR,was successfully constructed,which can target angiogenesis.The probe was spherical,with a hydration particle size of (35.7± 1.0) nm and a Zeta potential of (-13.54± 1.12) mV,and had good stability and biocompatibility.The GNPs-PEG@cNGR has good CT imaging results and can specifically target CD13-positive HUVEC and HepG2 cells.The CT imaging results in 4T1 breast cancer mice indicated that GNPs-PEG@cNGR could be specifically enriched in the tumor tissue after injection.The CT value of tumors in GNPs-PEG@cNGRz group was higher than that of GNPs-PEG group,and the difference was statistically significant (P＜0.05).Conclusions GNPs-PEG@cNGR can specifically target CD13 positive cells and can be used as a CT contrast agent for imaging tumor angiogenesis.