Receptor targeting to cancer cells
Left: CT-SPECT image of mouse 4 hours following tail vein injection of 111In-DTPA-folate, a radioimaging agent that binds to folate receptors over-expressed on cancer cells (see solid KB cell tumors on both shoulders). Kidneys also capture any folate-targeted imaging agent that is filtered into the urine and transcytose it from the urine back to the blood. Folate-targeted drugs are therefore not toxic to kidneys. Image courtesy of Cristina Mueller. Right: Whole-body imaging of a balB/C mouse with a KB tumor implantation of the shoulder with intravenous injection of fluorescent folate-Dylight 680 conjugates.
Folate receptor-targeted radioimaging in human subjects with breast (Left), brain tumors (Middle) and ovarian cancer (Right).
Trafficking of folate-rhodamine containing
endosomes on GFP-abeled microtubules in cancer cells (Left), cover of
Biophysics Journal, 2007; a video
that recorded the endocytosis of folate-rhodamine conjugates captured in
real time.
Optical imaging of liver metastases labeled by tail vein
injection of folate-FITC;
Images of human prostate tumors with prostate targeting
Z-series video of high dose of folate-rhodamine shows uptake in every cancer cell but not in any normal cells
Cancer cell uptakes folate conjugates cho-clst-12-08-2004.avi