Engineering of hetero-functional gold nanorods for the in vivo molecular targeting of breast cancer cells

Mohammad Eghtedari, Anton V. Liopo, John A. Copland, Alexander A. Oraevsky, Massoud Motamed

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

195 Scopus citations

Abstract

A novel technique is described to functionalize gold nanorods (GNRs) allowing for in vivo targeting of breast cancer tumors grown in athymic nude mice. GNRs were functionalized by covalent attachment of Herceptin (HER), a monoclonal antibody that enables molecular recognition of breast cancer cells expressing highly specific tumor associated antigens, and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) which obscures particles against the reticuloendothelial system in the body. The stability and functionality of fabricated particles (Her-PEG GNRs) were demonstrated in vitro in the presence of blood and then in vivo in nude mice model for breast cancer. The results demonstrate successful tumor accumulation of functionalized gold nanorods within HER2/neu overexpressing breast tumors in tumor-bearing nude mice and support the notions that GNRs can be used for molecular imaging of tumor.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)287-291
Number of pages5
JournalNano Letters
Volume9
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2009

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Bioengineering
  • General Chemistry
  • General Materials Science
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Mechanical Engineering

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