Non-invasive in vivo imaging of near infrared-labeled transferrin in breast cancer cells and tumors using fluorescence lifetime FRET.

ABSTRACT: The conjugation of anti-cancer drugs to endogenous ligands has proven to be an effective strategy to enhance their pharmacological selectivity and delivery towards neoplasic tissues. Since cell proliferation has a strong requirement for iron, cancer cells express high levels of transferrin receptors (TfnR), making its ligand, transferrin (Tfn), of great interest as a delivery agent for therapeutics. However, a critical gap exists in the ability to non-invasively determine whether drugs conjugated to Tfn are internalized into target cells in vivo. Due to the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect, it remains unknown whether these Tfn-conjugated drugs are specifically internalized into cancer cells or are localized non-specifically as a result of a generalized accumulation of macro

SUBMITTER: Abe K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3836976 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature