Development of a Mucin4-TargetingSPIO Contrast Agent for Effective Detection of Pancreatic Tumor Cellsin Vitro and in Vivo.

Insearch of a unique and reliable contrast agent targeting pancreaticadenocarcinoma, new multifunctional nanoparticles (MnMEIO-silane-NH2-(MUC4)-mPEG NPs) were successfully developed in this study.Mucin4-expression levels were determined through different imagingstudies in a panel of pancreatic tumor cells (HPAC, BxPC-3, and Panc-1)both in vitro and in vivo studies. The in vitro T2-weighted MR imaging study in HPAC and Panc-1 tumor cellstreated with NPs showed −89.1 ± 5.7% and −0.9 ±0.2% contrast enhancement, whereas in in vivo study, it is found tobe −81.5 ± 4.5% versus −19.6 ± 5.2% (24 hpostinjection, 7.0 T), respectively. The T2-weighted MR and optical imaging studies revealed that the novelcontrast agent can specifically and effectively target to mucin4-expressingtumors in nude mice. Hence, it is suggested that MnMEIO-silane-NH2-(MUC4)-mPEG NPs are able to provide an efficient and targeteddelivery of MUC4 antibodies to mucin4-expressing pancreatic tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]