Enhanced Photoacoustic Imaging of Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator Activity in Tumors.
Xinyi HuXianbao SunXiaoyang LiuHai-Dong XuLiang YangSong-Qin LiuRui WangGaolin LiangPublished in: Analytical chemistry (2023)
Photoacoustic (PA) imaging of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) activity in vivo holds high promise for early diagnosis of breast cancer. Molecular probes with resisted fluorescence (FL) emission for enhanced PA signals of uPA activity have not been reported. Herein, we proposed a molecular probe Cbz-Gly-Gly-Arg-Phe-Phe-IR775 ( Z-GGRFF-IR775 ) which, upon uPA cleavage, assembled into nanoparticles FF-IR775-NP with quenched fluorescence but enhanced PA signals. Experimental results validated that, upon uPA activation, Z-GGRFF-IR775 exhibited 4.7-fold, 4.1-fold, and 2.9-fold higher PA signals over those in uPA inhibitor-treated control groups in vitro, in MDA-MB-231 cells, and in a tumor-bearing mouse model, respectively. We anticipate that this probe could be applied for highly sensitive PA imaging of uPA activity in early stage malignant tumors in the near future.
Keyphrases
- early stage
- high resolution
- single molecule
- mouse model
- fluorescence imaging
- living cells
- squamous cell carcinoma
- induced apoptosis
- radiation therapy
- young adults
- machine learning
- signaling pathway
- cell proliferation
- endoplasmic reticulum stress
- artificial intelligence
- newly diagnosed
- locally advanced
- sentinel lymph node
- solid state