Affibody-functionalized gold-silica nanoparticles for Raman molecular imaging of the epidermal growth factor receptor.

ABSTRACT: The affibody functionalization of fluorescent surface-enhanced Raman scattering gold-silica nanoparticles as multimodal contrast agents for molecular imaging specific to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is reported. This nanoparticle bioconjugate reports EGFR-positive A431 tumors with a signal nearly 35-fold higher than EGFR-negative MDA-435S tumors. The low-level EGFR expression in adjacent healthy tissue is 7-fold lower than in the positive tumors. Validation via competitive inhibition reduces the signal by a factor of six, and independent measurement of EGFR via flow cytometry correlates at R(2) = 0.92.

SUBMITTER: Jokerst JV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3386295 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature